U.S. to conduct THAAD interception test next year

美 미사일방어청장 "사드 요격률 100%…내년 중거리 요격시험"
The top missile defense chief in the U.S. military is in Seoul to reassure the Korean public about the safety of the so-to-be deployed THAAD missile defense system.
He said the U.S. plans to prove THAAD's effectiveness through tests against missiles similar to the ones North Korea uses.
Kim Hyun-bin has the details.
The United States is planning to conduct a test of its THAAD missile defense system... next year... using missiles similar to the kind North Korea uses.
Vice Admiral James D. Syring, the director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, made the remarks in a briefing on Wednesday in Seoul,... where he also outlined THAAD's capabilities.
He said that THAAD has been tested 13 times in the last decade and has an interception rate of 100 percent.
The missiles that will be used in the test are intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which are similar to the mid-range Musudan missiles fired by North Korea.

"The testing that MDA has done with the THAAD system has progressed from short-range ballistic missiles to medium-range ballistic missiles up to next year, including intermediate-range ballistic missiles. We have tested the range of those threats and threat representatives’ targets for the last decade."

Syring is in Seoul to explain the technical and safety aspects of the THAAD system and to discuss follow-up measures for the planned deployment in 2017.
He said that numerous safety tests have been conducted not only in Guam but also in locations where the THAAD radar is deployed around the world.
He sought to reassure reporters that the same procedures will be in place before the system comes to South Korea.

"We have population centers close by in several of the radar cases that operate and have been operating up to a decade safely and without incident. And I am confident the same process will be followed here to insure the safety of the system and the safety of the population."

In addition, he sought to ease concerns about the potential health risks posed by the system's radar,... saying there is no threat to animals or the environment.


"Vice Admiral Syring also said the U.S. is currently working on the deployment in close coordination with U.S. Forces Korea.
Kim Hyun-bin, Arirang News."

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