Russia will take corresponding measures to ensure its national security if South Koreadeploys the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, Alexander Timonin, Russian Ambassador to South Korea, said at a press conference on Friday in Seoul.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Timonin said that the deployment of THAAD in SouthKorea would pose a threat to security on the Korean Peninsula and would contributenothing to regional peace. He said the deployment indicates that South Korea would beincorporated into the U.S. missile defense system, which would challenge Russia’sstrategic security.
Timonin pointed out that Russia still hopes for South Korea to decide against thedeployment.
South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said on Friday that South Korean DefenseMinister Han Min-goo and U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis have reached consensuson making sure that THAAD is deployed in South Korea this year.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) element provides the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) with a globally-transportable, rapidly-deployable capability to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or outside the atmosphere during their final, or terminal, phase of flight.
