(Reuters) A top foreign
policy adviser to South Korean presidential frontrunner Moon Jae-in said
on Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that Seoul pay
for the THAAD advanced U.S. missile defense system would be an
"impossible option".
In an
exclusive interview, Trump told Reuters on Thursday that he wants South
Korea to pay for the $1 billion Terminal High Altitude Area Defence
(THAAD) system.
"Even if we
purchase THAAD, its main operation would be in the hands of the United
States," said Kim Ki-jung, a foreign policy adviser to Moon and
professor at Seoul's Yonsei University.
"So purchasing it would be an impossible option. That was our topic when we were considering the options," Kim said.
Kim
is a top foreign policy adviser to Moon, who is leading polls by a wide
margin ahead of South Korea's May 9 election to replace impeached
former President Park Geun-hye, whose government agreed with Washington
last year to deploy THAAD.
Lee
Ji-soo, a spokesman for Moon, said campaign officials were aware of the
reported comments by Trump and deliberating his demand that South Korea
pay for THAAD but added that there was no official comment from Moon's
camp yet.
The U.S. military started
the deployment of THAAD in early March, despite strong opposition from
China, which says the system's radar can be used to spy into its
territory. The deployment has also prompted a North Korean warning of
retaliation.
South
Korea said on Wednesday major elements of the system were moved into
the planned site in the south of the country and the deployment would be
complete for its full operation by the end of this year.
The top U.S. commander in the Pacific, Admiral Harry Harris, said the system would be operational "in coming days."
South
Korea announced in July last year that THAAD would be deployed in the
southeastern country of Seonjgu, but residents have protested, citing
safety fears over the system's sophisticated radar and its potential to
be a wartime target.
The Pentagon has described THAAD last month
as a "critical measure" to defend South Koreans and U.S. forces against
North Korean missiles.
South
Korean and U.S. national security advisers agreed on Thursday that the
deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense system was moving ahead
smoothly, South Korea's presidential office said.
A
Pentagon spokesman said last month that THAAD deployment was "a
critical measure" to defend South Koreans and U.S. forces against North
Korean missiles.
(Source: Reuters; Reporting by James Pearson & Ju-min Park; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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