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.
On Monday, Trump called North Korea a global threat and "a problem that we have to finally solve" and said the UN Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions. The statement said that Seoul and Washington have been pushing to get THAAD working soon to cope with North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats.
Some unspecified parts of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system were deployed in the southeastern area of Seongju, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
As the carrier group drills continued, the USS Michigan arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday, the U.S. Navy said.
The vessel will take part in joint naval drills with the South's forces to "demonstrate Seoul and Washington's strong determination to punish North Korean provocations", the South Korean Navy said in a statement.
Harris also took responsibility for the mixed messaging over the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson's announced deployment to the Korean peninsula earlier this month. The two navies will also reportedly be carrying out missile detection, tracking and interception drills in the West Sea to prepare for the contingency of a North Korean missile launch.
As well as his military show of force, Trump has also sought to pressure China to do more to rein in its nuclear-armed neighbour.
The Trump administration plans to detail its own approach Wednesday when it brings the entire US Senate to the White House for a highly unusual briefing on the North Korean threat. North Korea has also tested high-thrust rocket engines for a potential ICBM, which Pyongyang claimed it was close to testing in January.
U.S. special representative Joseph Yun said he discussed American policy to "enhance pressure" on Pyongyang "because we really do not believe that North Korea is ready to engage us towards denuclearisation".
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That said, experts also testified there's a very high risk with USA military action against North Korea because it could result in the Pyongyang regime launching a retaliatory strike with conventional weapons against South Korea and Japan as well as lead to Chinese military intervention on the Korean Peninsula.
The exercise involved 300 to 400 long-range artillery pieces, capable of hitting Seoul, South Korea, to mark the 85th anniversary of the country's military.
The latest move comes as tension soars on the Korean Peninsula following a series of missile launches by the North and warnings from the Trump administration that military action was an "option on the table". Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will chair a ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday to discuss tougher sanctions on North Korea to deter it from pursuing nuclear and ballistic missiles programmes. U.S.
"The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable", Trump told a meeting with the 15 UN Security Council ambassadors, including China and Russian Federation, at the White House.
South Korean presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in has vowed to reconsider the deployment if he wins the 9 May election, saying that the country should consider relations with China.
The United States and South Korea agreed past year to deploy THAAD to counter the growing threat from the North.
Recent U.S. commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Korea's nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said the country's preparation for an ICBM launch is in its "final stage".
North Korea, meanwhile, issues nearly comically apocalyptic threats fairly regularly and has for the moment limited its actions to missile tests (the most recent one failed) and high-profile military parades through the heart of Pyongyang.
"We hope that all parties, including Japan, can work with China to promote an early peaceful resolution of the issue", Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
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