[Yonhap Photo]
South Korea's defense ministry came under fire for covering up or lying about the delivery of more missile interceptor launchers for a US missile shield as the Pentagon said it was made in a transparent way.
Senior military officials were questioned after President Moon Jae-in ordered a full probe Tuesday into allegations that the defense ministry has kept under wraps the arrival of four additional launchers for a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, the president's office said.
The original text clearly mentioned the existence of four more launchers but related phrases or words were dropped later in a final report, Moon's office said Wednesday, adding Defense Minister Han Min-koo and other top military officials are suspected of covering up erasure.
Moon was upset as the defense ministry did not report at a sensitive time when preparations were under way for his summit talks with US President Donald Trump, chief presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan told reporters.
US troops deployed two launchers on April 26 in Seongju some 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of Seoul. Four more launchers were found to have been brought in and kept at a military camp without being made public or reported to Moon even after he took office on May 10.
Moon expressed shock after he knew about the delivery of additional equipment this week through a telephone conversation with Defense Minister Han Min-koo.
The Pentagon showed a calm response, insisting there was no wrongdoing in dispatching the THAAD battery. "We have been very transparent in all of our actions throughout this process," Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters.
A THAAD battery consists of six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors, a fire control and communications unit and a powerful X-band radar capable of monitoring both North Korean and Chinese troop movements.
The THAAD scandal surfaced amid signs of a thaw in frozen ties between Seoul and Beijing. China insisted the THAAD system would "seriously" hurt strategic interests of China and other countries as well as the security balance in Northeast Asia.
In an effort to break a diplomatic deadlock, Moon sent a special envoy to Beijing, and Chinese President Xi Jinping responded with an apparent olive branch saying the two countries would solve disputes well to put relations back into shape.
Moon has promised to use the THAAD battery as a "diplomatic card" in negotiations with China and the United States, citing a procedural flaw in Park's decision to allow its arrival without parliamentary approval.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
