The U.S. urged Korea to finish the incomplete setup of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery and facilities here during defense talks in Washington in late April, a military spokesman here said Wednesday.

Completion of the U.S. Forces Korea project, which brought heavy economic retaliations from China for Korea, has been in limbo since 2017 amid protracted protests from locals and activists and a government reassessment.

"The U.S. several times in the course of the two-day talks demanded that Korea help finish the setup," the spokesman said. "But Korean delegates only said that it needs to follow democratic process, including an assessment of its environmental effects on the region."

The Park Geun-hye administration hastily pushed through the stationing of the THAAD battery in 2016, bypassing the regulatory process which requires an environmental impact assessment.

The battery was partly set up but still runs on a diesel generator because it could not be connected to the grid, and facilities for USFK personnel are rudimentary.