After last month announcing it would deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea within the year, the US military says THAAD is now operational and—in what is sure to thrill Kim Jong Un—"has the ability to intercept North Korean missiles," per the New York Times. More details:
- An official tells CNN that operation of the system on a former golf course in Seongju is "limited." Officials tell AFP that additional hardware is needed to make the system fully operational, a goal set for later this year.
- But even when fully operational, THAAD won't be able to shoot down the kind of intermediate-range missiles North Korea has been testing, CNN notes. It can, however, destroy short- and medium-range missiles in the final phase of flight.