WASHINGTON, United States (Reuter) — The White House on Thursday (December 15) said it was unaware of any planned changes to the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea despite recent political changes there.
“I’m not aware of any change in plans for the deployment of this anti-ballistic missile battery in South Korea based on some of the political turmoil that we’ve seen in the Republic of Korea over the last couple of months as you know some of this political situation has persisted. You know, I’ve repeated this our commitment to the strength of the alliance between the United States and South Korea,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at a daily briefing.
His comments come after the former leader of South Korea’s main opposition party earlier on Thursday said deployment should be decided by its next leader.
President Park Geun-hye’s powers were suspended after 234 of parliament’s 300 members voted to impeach her, meaning more than 60 members of her own party backed the motion against her.
The impeachment, which has to be reviewed and approved by a nine-judge Constitutional Court within 180 days to remove Park from office, sets the stage for her to become the country’s first elected leader to be ousted in disgrace.
Park, 64, the daughter of a former military ruler, is accused of colluding with a friend and a former aide, both of whom prosecutors have indicted, to pressure big businesses to donate to foundations set up to back her policy initiatives.
Park, who is serving a single five-year term ending in February 2018, has denied wrongdoing but apologized for carelessness in her ties with her friend, Choi Soon-sil.
For six consecutive Saturdays, huge crowds have gathered in central Seoul in peaceful demonstrations calling for Park to step down, with another planned for Saturday.