WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- A senior Pentagon official said Monday that South Korea has "a lot of ways" to help the U.S. missile defense system in Northeast Asia.
"Yes, there are a lot of ways one can contribute," Kathleen Hicks, principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy, said at a forum. "We do have dialogue with the (South) Koreans about how to contribute to missile defense."
She was responding to Yonhap News Agency's question on what the U.S. wants from South Korea as it bolsters missile defense in the region.
Citing radars as an example, she added, "That doesn't have to be proactive defense itself or certainly active participation through the use of missiles."
She refused to go further into details.
Cooperation on the U.S. missile defense system is a sensitive issue in South Korea as in many other nations.
Many South Koreans agree with the need to have an appropriate capability to shield their nation from North Korea's missile threats.
They are also concerned about the possibility that South Korea will be drawn into possible conflicts between the U.S. and countries in the region, including China.