US Begins THAAD Missile Defense System Deployment In S. Korea

The United States has begun the process of deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system - an advanced missile defense system to South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported citing a military official.

The first elements of the system, including two launchers, arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, Monday, the US and Seoul militaries told the news agency on Tuesday.

"The deployment could be completed within one or two months and it can be operational as early as April," a Seoul military official was quoted as saying. The system is purely defensive and poses no threat to other countries in the region, the report states.

A C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft has delivered the first elements of the THAAD system to the southeastern rural county of Seongju, 296 kilometers south of Seoul, the site for the battery, Moon Sang-gyun, a spokesman for the defense ministry was quoted as saying.

He didn't provide a schedule for the transfer. The remaining equipment is expected to be gradually delivered here, he said without elaborating.