Home > National > Defense

USFK chief says Thaad antimissile system 'still remains' in South Korea

Published: 22 Apr. 2026, 14:06 Updated: 22 Apr. 2026, 17:14

Patriot missile launchers are seen empty at Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi on March 11. [NEWS1]

United States Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson said the U.S. military's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system “still remains on the [Korean] Peninsula," responding to previous media reports about its partial relocation to the Middle East amid the Iran war.

“We’ve not moved any Thaad systems,” Brunson said during a Senate hearing at the Committee on Armed Services on Tuesday in response to a question from Democrat Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan about the assets’ reposition to the Middle East.

Tuesday’s hearing marks the first time a senior U.S. military official has publicly claimed that no Thaad units have been withdrawn from South Korea.

While affirming the unchanged presence of Thaad on South Korean soil, the commander said USFK had sent radars and munitions, with more munitions set to be relocated in the future.

“Radars were taken forward — this was in advance of [Operation] Midnight Hammer. Some of those things have not come back yet. But the Thaad systems themselves remain on the Peninsula,” Brunson added.

Operation Midnight Hammer refers to the U.S. airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities conducted in June of last year.

United States Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson speaks during a hearing at the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services in Washington on April 21. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A ‘logistics misunderstanding’

Brunson attributed the media speculations over Thaad to its previous logistical efforts.

“We moved them [the munitions] around, I think that’s what gotten into the information space,” the USFK commander said. “I was dynamically moving those around, so I could sequence them into Osan Air Base to prepare them to move the munitions, and that caused the big kerfuffle on the Peninsula.”

A phased relocation of munitions and certain operational equipment was misinterpreted as a withdrawal of the Thaad system in Korea, according to Brunson.

Brunson’s remarks come in the wake of an earlier report from the Washington Post on March 9, which claimed that the Pentagon was "moving parts of a Thaad system from South Korea to the Middle East,” citing remarks from two anonymous officials.

However, details on the types of “munitions” which Brunson mentioned during Tuesday's hearing — whether components of the Thaad system or general ordnance — were not disclosed. Brunson's left room for interpretation, raising the possibility that the munitions included Thaad interceptors — or that they referred more broadly to other defense matériel.

Then-incoming commander Gen. Xavier Brunson, center, salutes during a change-of-command ceremony for the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and the United States Forces Korea at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Dec. 20, 2024. [AP/YONHAP]

In a subsequent question about the possibility of a temporary withdrawal of Thaad from the Peninsula, Brunson said he expected the weapon would remain in South Korea.

Last month, South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said there have been “no significant changes to key assets” during a parliamentary defense committee meeting, when asked whether air defense systems were being redeployed to the Middle East. The question covered Thaad and Patriot PAC-3 missiles.

While noting potential “minor adjustments” in the deployment of USFK assets in Korea, Ahn noted that there was “no reason to be concerned.”

USFK ‘quality over quantity’

Commander Brunson stressed that his core focus is on bolstering and fine-tuning "capabilities" rather than expanding the USFK footprint — aligning with the U.S. strategy of modernizing its forces.

Brunson added that South Korea is a “key strategic terrain vital to defending the American homeland and advancing American interests in the region.”

When it comes to potential adjustments in USFK, Brunson said his focus “strictly remains on capabilities over numbers” to address “rapidly evolving strategic dilemmas.”

“While our presence [in South Korea] is baseline, it is imperative that we maintain focus on the precise capabilities that must be resident on the Peninsula,” Brunson said.

His remarks appear to be a reiteration of his previous statement from a press conference held at the U.S. base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, last August. At the time, his comments drew attention because they seemed to suggest changes to the current troop level of approximately 28,500 U.S. personnel in South Korea.

“[What] I think about is not about numbers at all — I think about capabilities,” Brunson said. “You could talk about numbers. [...] But at the strategic level, we got to think about the host of capabilities that are resident to be operated in a combined function, that we might be able to do the things that we need to do here to deal with the evolving threats.”

Col. Lee Sung-jun, left, public affairs director of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Col. Ryan Donald, public affairs director of the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and United States Forces Korea attend a press briefing of Ulchi Freedom Shield 2025 exercise at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on Aug. 7, 2025. [AP/YONHAP]

Opcon remains a ‘conditional’ agenda

Brunson noted that the continuing “integration” of the U.S. Seventh Air Force, the Naval Forces Korea, the Marine Forces Korea and the Special Operations Command Korea demonstrated “the potential to project power from Korea in support of deterrence across the greater Indo-Pacific.”

His remarks align with a broader shift to expand USFK’s role beyond deterring North Korea to countering China in the region under evolving alliance frameworks.

“Across the peninsula, our war fighters have built readiness,” the commander said.

Regarding wartime operational control (Opcon) transfer from Washington to Seoul, Brunson said it was “condition-based.”

The general said the United States would work on the conditions for the transfer based on the capabilities of South Korea’s military — particularly which roles Korean forces can assume in support of U.S. forces — as part of the road map for the Opcon transfer.

“We have to continue to work to ensure that political expediency does not outpace the conditions,” Brunson said.

While declining to elaborate further on the issue, Brunson noted that a condition-oriented approach would make both Washington and South Korea safer.

North Korea ‘wary’ of Iran developments

Service members and active soldiers from the Combined Forces Command, United States Forces Korea and United Nations Command participate in a joint drill of Ulchi Freedom Shield on Aug. 22, 2022. [MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE]

When asked about how Pyongyang has reacted to the Iran war, the commander said the regime has been “watching [it] with a wary eye.”

The North has focused its attention on the U.S. use of munitions and the pace of U.S. operations, according to Brunson.

In terms of the relations between the two Koreas, the commander said communication between Seoul and Pyongyang has decreased, with “no overtures toward peace from the regime where Kim Jong-un firmly keeps his seat."

“We see increasing hardness in terms of [the inter-Korean] relations. [There is] no more outreach from the North to the South,” Brunson said.

U.S. Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the Indo-Pacific Command, who was also present at the Senate hearing, said cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang was deeply concerning.

“North Korea's continued development of nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, and ballistic missiles poses a direct threat to the U.S. homeland and our allies,” Paparo said in his witness testimony to the committee.

“The deepening cooperation between China, Russia, and North Korea threatens to exacerbate and accelerate security challenges in the Indo-Pacific, degrading safety and security and accelerating existing tensions and disputes in the region. ”

BY KIM HYOUNG-GU [[email protected]]