AKIPRESS.COM - South Korea's Defence Ministry "intentionally dropped" mentioning that four more launchers had been deployed for the controversial U.S. THAAD anti-missile system in a report to President Moon Jae-in's top aides, Reuters reports referring to president's office.
Moon has ordered a probe at the defense ministry, saying it was "very shocking" the launchers had been brought in without being reported to the new government or to the public, presidential Blue House spokesman Yoon Young-chan said on Tuesday.
The Defence Ministry intentionally omitted details about the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system battery (THAAD) in a report last week, when the new government was preparing for Moon's summit with U.S. President Donald Trump next month, Yoon told a briefing.
Moon took office on May 10 without a transition period because a snap presidential election was held just two months after his predecessor, Park Geun-hye, was ousted in a corruption scandal. Moon inherited his defense minister along with the rest of his cabinet from the previous administration.
An earlier version of the defense ministry report specified the total number of launchers being prepared for deployment and the name of the U.S. military base where the four were being kept, but the reference was removed in the final version delivered to the Blue House, Yoon said.
The Pentagon said it had been "very transparent" with South Korea's government about THAAD deployment.