US won't seek South Korean money for THAAD
Seoul's presidential Blue House says White House National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster has confirmed that the US won't be seeking South Korean money for the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, currently being installed in the country's south.
President Donald Trump said last week that he would make the Asian ally pay $1 billion for the THAAD missile defense system now being deployed in its territory.
The Blue House said in a statement Sunday that McMaster and South Korea's Director of National Security Kim Kwan Jin spoke on the phone and reaffirmed a previous bilateral deal on cost-bearing for the THAAD deployment.
South Korea's Defense Ministry has previously said that under an agreement reached during the administration of Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, South Korea offers the land and facilities for THAAD but not the cost of operations.
