THAAD LaunchRegarding North Korea’s firing of a long-range missile on February 9, President Park Geun-hye had a telephone conversation with US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to push for stronger and more effective punitive sanctions at the level of the UN Security Council. All three leaders also agreed on the need for other sanctions.
During the phone call with President Obama, President Park said, “North Korea has already carried out a missile launch using ballistic missile technology following its nuclear test. This is a frontal attack on world peace and stability that must not be accepted. We should take clear measures with an internationally unified will so that North Korea realizes the impossibility of parallel nuclear development and economic construction.”
“A flagrant breach of the UN mandate” – Obama
President Obama said, “The recent missile launch by North Korea is a flagrant breach of the UN mandate as well as a direct threat to safety of the US and other allies. South Korea has our unwavering support in its defense against North Korea.”
The three leaders agreed to work closely to ensure that powerful and effective UN sanctions are selected at the UN Security Council. In addition, they agreed to various powerful sanctions and pressuring actions against North Korea at bilateral and multilateral level, and promised to pursue close cooperation.
During a phone call with Prime Minister Abe, President Park said, “We’re going to strengthen various sanctions at a bilateral and multilateral level independent of the UN mandate so that we can maximize the pressure on North Korea.”
Both Korea and the US officially agreed to deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in the USFK in response to North Korea’s long-range missile launch.
On February 7, our MND and the 8th Army headquarters in Korea announced this while explaining military countermeasures being pursued that are related to North Korea’s launch of a long-range missile.
Deputy Minister of National Defense Ryu Je-seung said in a media briefing, “Korea and the US have come to the conclusion that North Korea poses a serious threat to Korea and the entire Asia-Pacific area by conducting nuclear tests and firing a long-range missile. Our countries have decided to open an official discussion about THAAD deployment in USFK at the Korea-US alliance level to respond to North Korean threat, as an action to enhance the missile defensive posture of Korea-US alliance.”
He also said, “This decision by the Korea-US alliance was made following a proposal from Curtis M. Scaparrotti, Commander of Combined Forces and Commander of the US forces in Korea. The purpose of this official discussion is to seek the possibility of THAAD deployment and conduct operations as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, the chairs of the joint chiefs of staff of Korea, US and Japan will have a meeting to discuss countermeasures against the North Korea’s firing of long-range missile on February 11.
Chairs of the joint chiefs of staff of Korea, US and Japan discuss countermeasures against North Korean nuclear and missile threat
On February 10, the Joint Chiefs of Staff made the following announcement: “The Joint Chiefs of Staff of Korea, the US and Japan will have a trialogue tomorrow, which was previously postponed, to prepare for North Korea’s firing of a long-range missile. The parties will share information about the North Korean nuclear and missile threats, and discuss cooperation plans closely.”
The meeting will be held in Hawaii at the invitation of the US chair of the joint chiefs of staff Joseph F. Dunford Jr. Japan’s chief of staff Kawano Katsutoshi will attend the meeting in Hawaii and Korean chair of the joint chiefs of staff Lee Sun-jin will join via videoconference to maintain a posture of military readiness.
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