Friday March 24, 2023 | 8:15 a.m.
The United States and South Korea conducted, for the first time, exercises to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), an advanced US missile defense system capable of intercepting projectiles originating from North Korea.
The deployment was carried out in the joint military maneuvers that took place in recent weeks, although they announced it on March 24, according to information collected by the Yonhap news agency.
“This exercise enhanced the combat readiness of the THAAD unit and the combined defense posture between South Korea and the US in preparation for the advanced missile threat from North Korea,” the two countries said.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of rising tension on the Korean peninsula and after Kim Jong-un’s regime has confirmed the launch of a “strategic underwater nuclear weapon.”
The use of remote launchers is part of the US military’s modernization program designed to streamline and integrate its THAAD and Patriot missile defense systems into a single program to make security operations more flexible.
China, which maintains that THAAD’s powerful radar could control its airspace, halted trade and imports of cultural products after Seoul announced its deployment in 2016, dealing a severe blow to relations between the two countries.
The South Korean presidential office said the system stationed in the country is a means of self-defense, according to a transcript of a briefing, after Beijing demanded Seoul stop deploying more batteries and limit the use of existing ones.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Friday that dictator Kim Jong-un “will pay for his reckless provocations” hours after Pyongyang fired a new type of underwater drone capable of generating radioactive tsunamis.
“North Korea is advancing its nuclear weapons day by day, and carrying out missile provocations with unprecedented intensity,” Yoon said at a memorial service for the 55 fallen Yellow Sea sailors held at North Korea National Cemetery. Daejeon, 139 kilometers south of Seoul.
“Our government and military will dramatically strengthen South Korea’s three-axis system in the face of North Korean missile advances and provocations, and strengthen security cooperation with the United States and Japan,” Yoon said, referring to the strategy. military that includes anti-missile defenses, a pre-emptive strike platform and plans to disarm the North Korean regime.
North Korean propaganda media reported Friday that dictator Kim Jong-un this week tested an underwater drone capable of generating radioactive tsunamis similar to the Russian system known as Poseidon.
The device was deployed off the North Korean coast and “reached the target point in the waters of Hongwon Bay established as a simulated enemy port with its test warhead, detonating underwater on Thursday afternoon,” according to the KCNA agency.
