Ban Ki-Moon Supports South Korean Government Plans for THAAD Deployment

South Korean government is right to follow the plan for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) deployment, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) – THAAD anti-missile systems, which South Korea agreed in 2016 to be deployed by the United States on its territory by the end of 2017 with the stated aim of countering threat from North Korea, serve as one of the main irritation factors in Beijing-Seoul ties.

"Given the reality where Korean Peninsula is in the state resembling war, the authorities’ actions [on deploying THAAD] are reasonable," Ban said, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

China and Russia have repeatedly showed their objection to the deployment of THAAD, arguing that their real aim was to deter the strategic weapon systems not only in the Korean peninsula’s North, but primarily in China's hinterlands and Russia's Far East regions.

Ban, whose second 5-year-term as the UN secretary-general expired at the end of 2016, is considered a possible presidential candidate in the wake of the political scandal around South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

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