South Korea, US Plan To Deploy THAAD Missile Defense System

The US and South Korea are planning to sign a deal on placing a US THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense system in the country.

South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun was quoted as confirming by Yonhap news that Seoul was not going to purchase the defense system from Washington.

According to the Yonhap news report, citing Moon, signing of the "terms of reference" on deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) unit in South Korea will take place on Wednesday or Thursday.

Seoul and Washington "decided to put off the signing of the terms of reference, which was originally slated for today," the spokesman said, adding that some details still needed to be ironed out.

Earlier in February, Pentagon said that Washington and Seoul planned to begin talks on deploying the THAAD anti-ballistic missile system to South Korea to defend the region against North Korea’s development of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons, sputnik said in a report Tuesday.

The reports on THAAD purchase by South Korea emerged days after North Korea had launched a Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite atop a long-range rocket, defying a UN Security Council resolution, which bans Pyongyang from launching rockets that could be used as ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads.