A senior Pentagon official touted US military redeployment flexibility as a 'tremendous strength' in a congressional hearing, addressing concerns over shifting THAAD assets from South Korea to the Middle East—following Seoul's expressed regrets earlier this month.
WASHINGTON — This comes after South Korean President Lee Jae-myung voiced opposition on March 10 to the US transfer of THAAD assets from Seongju to the Middle East amid US-Iran tensions, as initially reported by The Washington Post, though Seoul maintained it would not hinder North Korea deterrence.
On Tuesday, Michael Duffey, US undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the US military's 'flexibility' in redeploying assets to meet urgent global needs is a 'tremendous strength.' Responding to Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), who raised North Korea threats and past Chinese economic coercion against South Korea over THAAD, Duffey declined to specify redeployment duration but reaffirmed, 'there is a full commitment for us to maintain that alliance with South Korea and provide whatever capability that we can.'
Bera noted: 'Our friends and allies in South Korea paid a real price for it because China did use their economic coercive tools... I do have real concerns at a time where we still see North Korea saber-rattling.' A THAAD launch vehicle remains stationed at the US base in Seongju, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
