The United States will supply an advanced missile-defense system to South Korea in the event of an emergency situation on the divided peninsula, a South Korean military source said Sunday.

"The US plans to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in case of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula," a military source told Yonhap News Agency.

Washington currently maintains approximately 28,500 troops on the ground in South Korea as a means of military support for Seoul in its long-running standoff with the North.

South Korean politicians remain divided on whether or not to host the American missile defense system, with some fearing its presence would undermine the country’s sovereignty.

The United States insisted the battery is purely defensive in nature.

The THAAD system slated for deployment can shoot down a wide variety of ballistic missiles flying at higher altitudes than any other defense system owned by South Korea.

Seoul has also come out against the deployment of the AN/TPY-2, an early missile warning system able to detect threats up to 2,000 kilometers away, which would include China's military facilities.

"Our military has our own missile warning system, the Green Pine, which has a range of 600 km, so we don't need AN/TPY-2," a source within the South Korean government said.