The top military officers of South Korea and the United States held talks on bilateral security issues on Friday amid swirling speculation they could discuss the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile-defense system here.
Adm. Choi Yun-hee, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) chairman, and his U.S. counterpart Gen. Martin Dempsey began their meeting in Seoul "to deal with a wide range of issues, including how to deal with North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats and their preparedness," Seoul's JCS said.
While the JCS and the defense ministry here have stressed that the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) issue would not be on the agenda, observers said the top military officers could touch upon the issue "at least in an unofficial fashion." The possible deployment of the missile-defense system has been a hot-button issue facing South Korea amid strong opposition from China, Seoul's largest trading partner, according to Korea news agency (Yonhap).
The U.S. hopes to deploy THAAD in South Korea to counter ballistic missile threats from North Korea and guarantee the safety of about 28,000 U.S. troops stationed here and their families, saying it is a purely defensive system.