Without parliamentary approval, THAAD may be sent back to US: South Korea

Moscow: South Korea's ruling Democratic Party's leader on Wednesday said Seoul is considering sending back the recently installed THAAD missile system to the United States.

"Seoul will have to look into issues, including the possibility of sending back THAAD, if it has not properly undergone parliamentary approvals," Sputnik quoted Woo Won-shik, the floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party, as saying.

The Korean parliamentarian also reiterated that the deployment of THAAD battery to South Korea required proper parliamentary approval for reasons of national security.

South Korea appears to have responded this way after President Donald Trump informed Seoul in April that "it would be appropriate if they paid" for the deployment of a US THAAD system.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has criticised the previous government for allowing the installation of the THAAD system and stressed that there is a need to forge a public consensus over a crucial national defence decision.

The THAAD system was deployed after Washington and Seoul in July 2016 reached an agreement on placing a US THAAD system in South Korean territory in the wake of the North Korean provocations of testing missiles. But China and Russia has opposed the installation of the missile defence system.