Article content

SEOUL, South Korea — As tensions continue to increase with North Korea, the U.S. military is moving quickly to put in place a missile shield it hopes will protect major urban centres here from a nuclear strike.

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system, or THAAD as it is more commonly known, arrived in Korea in March and is expected to be operational shortly. Work continued over the past week at the proposed site for the missile system in Seongju, a county in central South Korea.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or U.S. races to install missile defence shield to protect South Korea as tensions with Pyongyang heat up Back to video

Once operating, THAAD — a truck-mounted system with long-range radar capability — is expected to be able to launch a missile to shoot down any incoming North Korean ballistic rockets.

North Korea has said it sees the United States’ installation of THAAD and its other military manoeuvres in the region as preparation for an attack.

China has voiced strong objections to the arrival of the missile shield, claiming it undermines security in the region.