S. Korea, US to Stick to Their Plan on THAAD Deployment in Korean Peninsula

Kim Kwan-jin, chief of the National Security Office of South Korea, met with National Security Adviser nominee Michael Flynn in Washington D.C. on January 9 and said on the following day that they agreed with each other about the continuation of THAAD deployment in South Korea and communication and cooperation between the South Korean and U.S. governments for dealing with the North Korean nuclear threat to secure peace and stability in Northeast Asia and achieve the denuclearization of the North.

During his second visit to Washington D.C. since September 2014, the chief of the National Security Office met with not only Michael Flynn but also National Security Advisor Susan Rice, U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce, former Heritage Foundation president Edwin Feulner, etc.

National Security Adviser nominee Michael Flynn has a hard-line stance on North Korea issues. At his interview in October last year, he mentioned that the Kim Jong-un regime should not be allowed to continue and he will never strike a deal with the North Korean leader.

The nominee and the chief also reached an agreement on the necessity of THAAD systems in the Korean Peninsula and their continued cooperation to that end. “THAAD systems are for defense purposes only and the deployment of the systems is for self-defense,” said a South Korean government official who visited the U.S. with the chief, adding, “Therefore, it will be in progress regardless of opposition from the Chinese government.”