Threat of attack by North Korea against THAAD US-South Korea anti-missile system deployment

Pyongyang July 11:North Korea’s military has threatened to take “physical action” after the United States and South Korea announced that they would deploy a sophisticated  THAAD anti-missile defence system which is expected to be deployed in Seoul by the end of 2017.

“There will be physical response measures from us as soon as the location and time that the invasionary tool for US world supremacy, THAAD, will be brought into South Korea are confirmed,” the North’s military said in a statement on Monday.

“We once again warn the enemies that it is the steadfast will of the KPA [Korean People’s Army] to make merciless retaliatory strikes to reduce South Korea to a sea in flames, debris once an order is issued.”

The threats were made after North Korea test-fired a new submarine-based ballistic missile on Saturday, which was seen as a direct response to new US sanctions on North Korean leaders for human rights abuses.

According to authorities in Seoul, the launch, which took place in the East Sea near the northeastern city of Sinpo, failed during the flight phase. However, they still considered it an advancement in North Korean missile technology, EFE news reported.

The North frequently threatens to attack the South, as well as US interests in Asia and the Pacific.

The planned deployment of the powerful anti-missile system has also angered the South’s neighbours, including China, which said on Friday that the move would “seriously damage” regional security in northeast Asia.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, however, defended the move as a “purely defensive” action aimed at protecting the South.

“The international community will be aware that we have no intention to target or threaten another country … we are taking a purely defensive measure to protect our country and our people,” Park said in a meeting with advisors.

A South Korean defence ministry official told the Reuters news agency that the selection of a site for THAAD could come “within weeks”, and the allies were working to have it operational by the end of 2017.

It will be used “to protect alliance military forces,” Seoul and Washington said on Friday.

The THAAD project, a costly system designed to intercept missiles in their terminal phase of flight, has generated strong protests from both North Korea, who considers it as a direct threat to its security, and China as well as Russia.

The US maintains 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war.