The US Department of Defense has announced its plan to deploy an advanced missile system to South Korea “as quickly as possible” to counter the growing threats of weapons capabilities and recent provocations from the North. The Pentagon confirmed on Monday that it will start formal talks with South Korea on placing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) on North Korea’s doorstep. Press TV reports: THAAD is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in their terminal phase using a hit-to-kill approach. “Without getting into a timeline, we’d like to see this move as quickly as possible,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said on Monday of a possible THAAD deployment. “We are beginning the consultations now and in the current days with the South Koreans, and we expect that this will move in an expeditious fashion,” he added. The remarks come after North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Sunday carrying what it called a satellite. Washington says the deployment of the missile system to the Korean Peninsula acts as a deterrent against North Korea’s ballistic missile program. Russia and China, however, say such a move would undermine stability on the restive Korean peninsula. China is opposed to the deployment of the US [...]