Top U.S. general to visit S.Korea next week amid rows over THAAD

The top U.S. military officer will visit South Korea next week amid rows over whether to deploy the advanced U.S. missile defense system, called Terminal High- Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), on the Korean Peninsula.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), will visit South Korea for three days from March 26 at the invitation of Choi Yun-hee, South Korea's JCS chairman, the South Korean Defense Ministry said Friday.

Dempsey's return visit would come after Choi traveled to the United States in March last year, the ministry said.

During the meeting between Choi and Dempsey slated for March 27, the two generals are expected to talk about how to prepare for nuclear and missile threats from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Dempsey's visit came amid the ongoing rows between rival political parties over whether to introduce the THADD on the Korean Peninsula.

Lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party have recently raised the need for the THAAD deployment, while members of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy have opposed to it as the U.S. missile defense system is designed to intercept an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

A South Korean Defense Ministry official told Xinhua that the THAAD issue "will not be on the dialogue agenda" during the meeting between Choi and Dempsey, saying that even formal negotiations on the issue have not been launched between Seoul and Washington.

Amid a growing controversy, South Korea's Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it will make a decision "on its own" after only considering national security interests.

The THAAD, developed by the U.S.-based Lockheed Martin, is designed to intercept ballistic missiles at an altitude of 40-150 km.

South Korea is developing its indigenous missile defense system, called Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD), to shoot down missiles in the terminal phase at an altitude of about 40 km. Endit