South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Friday dismissed Lockheed Martin’s claim that Seoul and Washington have started formal consultations over a possible stationing of advanced U.S. missile assets on the peninsula.
Mike Trotsky, vice president of air and missile defense at the U.S. defense giant, said at a news conference in Washington on Thursday that the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system ― which the company manufactures ― is a subject of “ongoing policy discussions” between the two countries.
The event came days ahead of U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s trip to Seoul for annual ministerial security talks.
Speaking at a parliamentary session, Defense Minister Han Min-koo brushed off the assertion as “groundless.”
“The two governments have never talked about it,” he said.
A Defense Ministry official also said Seoul’s position remained unchanged: That it will look into the issue after the U.S. makes a decision and requests consultations.
“There is no discussion between the sides, whether formal or informal,” he said, adding that THAAD is not on the agenda for the Security Consultative Meeting scheduled for Monday.
The Pentagon also echoed the ministry’s remarks, saying it has not reached a decision and thus no official talks have taken place between the allies.
“We have made no final decision regarding the deployment of a U.S. THAAD unit to the Republic of Korea, nor have we had any formal consultations with the ROK government on this issue,” Cmdr. Bill Urban, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman, told Yonhap news agency.
The unabated controversy over THAAD reflects Seoul’s dilemma deepened by North Korea’s growing missile threats and the stiff opposition of China and Russia, which view its deployment here as de facto participation in the U.S.-led global missile defense program that they say is directed at them.
Trotsky stressed the defensive nature of the system, saying it would equip South Korea with multilayer defense and help counter North Korea’s threats.
“Having those layers makes it extremely difficult for the enemy to deploy any one technique that would defeat all three systems,” he said.
“It can’t be used in an offensive way. The entire system, from the hardware to the software, must have an incoming ballistic missile to launch an interceptor.”
By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)
