New South Korean President, Moon Jae-in, ordered a “probe” after learning the Defence Ministry did not inform him that four additional THAAD launchers were brought into the country, a spokesman said Tuesday.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery was originally deployed by the U.S. military in March with two of its maximum six launchers loaded. It aims to provide a measure of defense to South Korea from shorter range North Korean ballistic missiles, if armed conflict breaks out. These four launchers will raise the THAAD battery to its full capacity.
A South Korean presidential spokesman highlighted “President Moon said it was very shocking” to hear the new launchers were installed without first being reported to the new administration or the public, according to a report in South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
The report noted a defense ministry source said the deputy minister for policy briefed Moon’s national security advisor on pending defense issues last Friday, including the four additional launchers. However, the President’s office, the Blue House, refuted the statement and said there was no report on the launchers.
The spokesman said Wednesday despite this issue, Moon told visiting Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that “we do not intend to change the existing decision or send a different message to the U.S.”
Moon, of the social liberal Democratic Party, was elected after his predecessor, Park Geun-hye, was impeached by the South Korean legislature. In his election campaign Moon promoted a more moderate approach to North Korea and was tepid towards the THAAD deployment. Park has previously said the previous Park administration should have gotten the legislature’s approval on accepting the THAAD battery.
In response, U.S. Defense Department spokesman Jeff Davis said at a news briefing that “We continue to work very closely with the Republic of Korea government and we have been very transparent in all of our actions throughout this process.”
The prime contractor for THAAD is Lockheed Martin [LMT] and it uses the Raytheon [RTN] AN/TPY-2 x-band radar to track ballistic missiles.