SEOUL, South Korea—U.S. missile launchers and other equipment needed to set up a missile defense system have arrived in South Korea, the U.S. and South Korean militaries said Tuesday, a day after North Korea test-fired four ballistic missiles into the ocean near Japan.
Washington and Seoul say the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) system is defensive. The U.S. military said THAAD can intercept and destroy short and medium-range ballistic missiles during the last part of their flights. Its missiles carry no warheads, relying on the kinetic energy of impact to knock out incoming missiles, including nuclear-tipped missiles, which do not detonate upon a kinetic energy impact.
“Continued provocative actions by North Korea, to include yesterday’s launch of multiple missiles, only confirm the prudence of our alliance decision last year to deploy THAAD to South Korea,” Adm. Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said in a statement.
Some South Korean liberal presidential candidates have said that the security benefits of having THAAD would be curtailed by worsened relations with neighbors China and Russia, who see the deployment of the missile system as a threat.
