South Korea said on Monday negotiations are underway for a THAAD site. File Photo courtesy of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency

SEOUL, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- South Korea's defense ministry says the U.S. missile defense system THAAD is to be deployed in 2017.

Seoul also said on Monday the restitution of wartime operational control should take place in a secure manner and at the right time, Yonhap reported.


OPCON is currently under the U.S. Command in South Korea. In 2014, Seoul and Washington agreed to postpone the transfer of OPCON to South Korea after Seoul requested postponement several times, beginning in 2007.

In the report issued by the ministry in response to the U.S. presidential election outcome, South Korea stated it is proposing the sustainable development of the bilateral relationship within the context of a comprehensive strategic alliance, reaching a consensus on cost-sharing, and strengthening a bilateral posture against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

"We will go ahead with the safe handover of wartime operational control according to a U.S.-[South Korea] consensus and at the right time so that [South Korea's] armed forces can lead its defense," the statement read.

OPCON was expected to take place around 2025-26, but some analysts expect an accelerated timeline under a Trump administration.

Plans to deploy THAAD sometime in 2017 remain unchanged, the defense ministry said.

Seoul is in the process of negotiating a THAAD site, located on a golf club in a central region of the country. The negotiation with South Korean conglomerate Lotte, which owns the site, would include a land swap, according to Yonhap.

The South Korean statement also said the government is planning to negotiate an agreement on the deployment of U.S. strategic weapons on the peninsula.

Seoul is referring to the outcome of the U.S.-South Korea Security Consultative Meeting held in October, where the United States decided to deploy strategic military assets on a rotational basis, a position that may have been at odds with South Korean objectives.

Some in South Korea have said rotational deployment and temporary missions are not sufficient to defend against Pyongyang's nuclear provocations.