US to Deploy THAAD Missile Defense in South Korea 'ASAP' - Kerry

The United States will soon deploy its most advanced ballistic-missile defense system in South Korea in response to an ongoing series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests by North Korea, US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — In July, South Korea and the United States announced that they had agreed to deploy the system in the Seongju County amid increased tensions on the peninsula over North Korea's nuclear and missile program.

The THAAD system is designed to intercept short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles at the terminal incoming stage.

"We will deploy as soon as possible a terminal high-altitude area defense [THAAD] battery to our Korean allies," Kerry told a joint press conference with US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and the South Korean ministers of foreign affairs and defense.