Kim Kwan-jin, top security adviser to ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye, will visit the United States for two days from Wednesday, the presidential Blue House said Tuesday.
During his visit, Kim will meet with US national security adviser Herbert McMaster to discuss countermeasures against nuclear and missile threats from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The planned visit comes after Park vacated the Blue House on Sunday night and headed for her private home in a southern district of Seoul. Park was permanently removed from office on March 10, when the constitutional court unanimously upheld the bill to impeach her.
South Korean Defense Minister nominee Kim Kwan-jin vows to tell the truth during his parliamentary hearing at the National Assembly in December 2010, in Seoul, South Korea. /CFP Photo
Kim and McMaster held telephone talks on March 1 when the annual US-South Korea springtime war games were launched.
During the talks, they agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in South Korea's Seongju county as scheduled, to brace for what they called nuclear and missile threats from the DPRK.
China and Russia have strongly voiced their opposition to the THAAD installation, as it breaks the regional strategic balance and damages the security interests of the two countries.
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched during a successful intercept test, in this undated handout photo provided by the US Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency. /CFP Photo
Two mobile launchers and part of the THAAD battery arrived in South Korea last week, before being transported to an unknown base of the US Forces Korea. THAAD is composed of six mobile launchers, 48 interceptors, an X-band radar and a fire and control unit.
The THAAD battery, the installation of which was agreed by Seoul and Washington in July last year, could reportedly be deployed as early as next month.
(With inputs from Xinhua)
