THAAD deployment on Korean peninsula necessary, U.S. official says

upi.com

North Korea's development of nuclear weapons requires THAAD negotiations with the South, the U.S. deputy secretary of state said Tuesday.

Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., Antony Blinken said even if China opposes the deployment of the U.S. anti-missile defense system in South Korea, negotiations are necessary to counter North Korean threats, Yonhap reported.

The United States would sit down with China to assure Beijing of the specific aims of THAAD and explain the technical and performance specifications to the Chinese government before any steps are taken, Blinken said.

The system "does not affect China strategically, but we know that China does not like it," he added, according to Voice of America.

The State Department official said if North Korea keeps repeating its current provocations, and to protect the security of allies in the region, necessary measures would need to be taken and THAAD deployment cannot be ruled out.

North Korea is getting close to miniaturizing nuclear warheads and mounting them on intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the continental United States, Blinken said.