Yonhap: US Begins Moving THAAD Missile Defense Into South Korea Site

South Korea's trumpeting of progress in setting up the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, comes as high-powered USA military vessels converge on the Korean Peninsula and as a combative North Korea signals possible nuclear and missile testing.

South Korean defense ministry officials and US military officials could not immediately be reached for confirmation. However the move has angered China, which says the advanced system will do little to deter the North and destabilize the regional security balance.

Some media reports said it was held near Wonsan, a port city in eastern DPRK.

Trailer trucks carrying parts of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system entered the site on what had been a golf course in the county of Seongju in a southern region of South Korea, Yonhap news agency and YTN television reported.

On Monday, he said dictator Kim Jong Un isn't as strong as he claims to be, and he blamed the worldwide community for not doing more to rein him in.

Military exercises such as the one undertaken by North Korea are not unprecedented and it was always likely there would have been a show of military force on Armed Forces Day. It was part of celebrations marking the 85th anniversary of the founding of the country's military.

"Deploying THAAD is a critical measure to defend the ROK (Republic of Korea) people and Alliance forces against North Korean missile threats, as highlighted by the recent ballistic missile launches by North Korea", a statement from the office of the US Secretary of Defense said Tuesday.

In this Monday, April 24, 2017 photo released by the U.S. Navy, the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Michigan arrives in Busan, South Korea, for a scheduled port visi.

North Korea's drills coincided with military exercises held by USA and South Korean navies in the Yellow Sea, off the western coast of the Korean Peninsula.

The destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer is conducting exercises with a South Korean destroyer near the Korean peninsula, while the USS Fitzgerald is doing drills with a Japanese destroyer west of Japan.

South Korea accuses China of discriminating against some South Korean companies operating in China because of the THAAD deployment.Seoul and Washington say the sole objective of THAAD is to defend against North Korean missiles, but China is concerned the system's powerful radar can penetrate its territory and undermine its security.

Trump on Monday urged UN Security Council ambassadors to consider stronger sanctions against Pyongyang, and USA senators will be briefed on North Korea at the White House on Wednesday.

"This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not", Trump said at a White House meeting Monday.

The post North Korea ignores Trump, conducts "massive fire drill" appeared first on The Independent Uganda:. "People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now it's time to solve the problem".

Nikki Haley, Trump's U.N. ambassador, said the United States is not looking for a fight with Kim and would not attack North Korea "unless he gives us reason to do something". She praised China's increased pressure on North Korea.

Asked about the threshold for USA action, Haley told American broadcaster NBC that "if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously we're going to do that".

But asked what if North Korea tests an intercontinental missile or nuclear device, she said, "I think then the president steps in and decides what's going to happen".

Seoul's defence ministry said Wednesday's move was aimed at "securing operational capability of the THAAD as soon as possible", with a goal of fully installing the batteries by the end of this year.

Confusion had clouded the carrier's whereabouts earlier this month after United States officials indicated it was sailing towards North Korea when in fact it was heading south. A rapid tempo of North Korean weapons testing in the past year has pushed Kim Jong Un's authoritarian nation closer to developing a nuclear-armed missile that could reach the US mainland.

There have been occasions in the past when political tensions have reached crisis point - most recently in April 2013 - but Trump's firm rhetoric on North Korea in recent weeks is unusual for a United States leader.