USFK Announces Start of THAAD Working Group; China Still Against Deployment

The deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea is taking another step closer to becoming reality:

The United States and South Korea are expected “within a week” to hold the first meeting of a joint working group aimed at discussing the proposed deployment of the THAAD missile defense system, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea said Wednesday.

Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti told the House Armed Services Committee that it will take some time to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to the South as the working group has determine the right location and other details.

“We’re forming a joint working group that I think will have its first meeting within a week,” he said. “THAAD is a complex system. It’s going to take some time for us to find the right location because where you locate it makes a difference on how effective it is. So we got to find the right location and do that work, which we will do in accordance with our SOFA.”  [Yonhap]

The Chinese are still complaining about the deployment and I really like what the PACOM commander Admiral Harris had to say in response:

U.S. Pacific Commander Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. criticized China’s opposition to THAAD, saying it is “preposterous that China would try to wedge itself between South Korea and the United States for a missile system designed to defend Americans and Koreans.”

It is good to see someone calling out the Chinese on how preposterous their criticisms of the THAAD deployment are.