S. Korea, U.S. to sign agreement on THAAD talks this week

South Korea and the United States plan to sign an accord this week on launching official talks to deploy the advanced American anti-ballistic missile defense system, the Defense Ministry here said Tuesday.

The signing of the "terms of reference" over the possible positioning of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) unit in the Northeast Asian country will take place on Wednesday or Thursday, as the countries have yet to iron out some details, ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said.

The allies had previously planned to hold the signing ceremony on Tuesday.

After signing the agreement, Seoul and Washington will establish a joint working group to negotiate the sensitive THAAD issue, including cost-sharing and a candidate site.

Hours after North Korea launched a long-range rocket carrying a satellite on Feb. 7, the allies announced plans to begin talks on bringing THAAD into the peninsula.

(Yonhap)