Pentagon Assures THAAD in South Korea Needed 'Solely' to Counter Pyongyang

The US Defense Department assured "third party nations" that the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in South Korea is directed exclusively against North Korean threat, according to the Pentagon's statement.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense announced that Washington and Seoul had agreed to deploy the systems with US Forces Korea. China immediately expressed protest against the deal. Earlier similar concerns were voiced by Russia.

"When the THAAD system is deployed to the Korean Peninsula, it will be focused solely on North Korean nuclear and missile threats and would not be directed towards any third party nations," the statement reads.

THAAD is a US missile defense system capable of shooting down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. In July 2015, North Korea pledged to boost its nuclear deterrent should the United States deploy a mobile missile defense systems in South Korea.