Seoul: The US military has started moving parts of a controversial anti-missile defence system into a planned deployment site in South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, amid high tensions over North Korea's missile and nuclear programmes.
The US and South Korea have agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in response to the threat of missile launches by North Korea but China says it will do little to deter the North while destabilising the regional security balance.
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Trailer trucks carrying parts of the system entered the site on what had been a golf course in the county of Seongju in a southern region of South Korea, Yonhap news agency and YTN television reported.
South Korean Defence Ministry officials and US military officials could not be reached for confirmation.
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The United States began moving the first elements of the advanced missile defence system into South Korea in early March after the North test-launched four ballistic missiles.
But the US and South Korean militaries have been reluctant to discuss the progress of the deployment as candidates in a May 9 presidential election debated whether the move should go ahead or be delayed until after the vote.
South Korea has said China has discriminated against some South Korean companies in retaliation against the deployment.
Meanwhile, an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile will be launched on Wednesday, US time, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to test the weapon's effectiveness, accuracy and readiness, the Air Force Global Strike Command says.
The Minuteman III missile test launch will occur between 12.01 and 6.01am from the north end of the base near Lompoc, Vandenberg's 30th Space Wing said.
In a statement, Colonel Chris Moss, Vandenberg's 30th Space Wing commander, said missile launches were "essential to verify the status of our national nuclear force and to demonstrate our national nuclear capabilities".
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organisation, criticised the timing of the launch, citing heightened tension between the US and North Korea. In recent weeks, North Korea has stepped up its testing of ballistic missiles.
"When it comes to missile testing, the US is operating with a clear double standard," foundation president David Krieger said in a statement.
"It views its own tests as justified and useful, while it views the tests of North Korea as threatening and destabilising.
"What is needed is diplomacy rather than military provocations. Threats, whether in the form of tweets, nuclear-capable aircraft carrier groups, or nuclear-capable missile launches, only increase the dangers to us all."
On Tuesday, the US 7th Fleet said it was conducting maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan.
"Both exercises demonstrate a shared commitment to security and stability in Northeast Asia as well as the US Navy's inherent flexibility to combine with allied naval forces in response to a broad range of situations," the US 7th Fleet said in a statement.
The Vandenberg test would be the second missile launched from the base this year.
The other launch was conducted in February by the strike command's team, which is from the 91st Missile wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.
That missile was equipped with a non-explosive payload that recorded flight data, the strike command said. It was launched at the base just north of Lompoc and travelled 6760 kilometres to a test range in Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Three Minuteman III missiles were launched in 2016, Lieutenant-Colonel Jason Turner, 2d Range Operations Squadron commander, said.
Reuters, Los Angeles Times