South Korea's defense ministry said Sunday that the country and the United States had agreed to launch an official negotiation on the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system, called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), on the Korean peninsula.

Yoo Jeh-Seung, South Korea's deputy defense minister for policy, told a press briefing that Seoul and Washington had shared a view that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s recent nuclear test and long-range missile launch show serious threats of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile on peace and stability in South Korea and the entire Asia-Pacific region.

To respond to mounting DPRK threats, South Korea and the United States decided to kick off an official negotiation on the THAAD deployment to the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) to enhance a joint missile defense posture between the two allies, Yoo said.

The decision was made after USFK commander Curtis Scaparrotti requested it, Yoo said, noting that the official negotiation is aimed at jointly seeking the THAAD deployment and its possible operational capability at an earliest possible date.

The announcement came after the DPRK said Sunday that it had successfully launched a Kwangmyongsong-4 Earth observation satellite into orbit less than 10 minutes after liftoff at 9:30 a.m. (0030 GMT).

Pyongyang claimed on Jan. 6 that it had tested its first H-bomb in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. It was the fourth of nuclear detonations following tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

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