US Defense Secretary Ash Carter says the deployment of a new US missile-defense system to South Korea is going to happen. He also asked China to do more to counter the DPRK's missile development.

The two close allies began talks on possible deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or THAAD system after Pyongyang tested its fourth nuclear bomb and launched a long-range rocket earlier this year. China agreed to tough new UN sanctions on DPRK after the tests but has said it is "firmly opposed" to THAAD deployment, arguing that this would undermine its strategic deterrent.

China complains that the THAAD has a range that would extend far beyond the Korean peninsula. It says deployment of the system would threaten its national security interests and damage regional strategic stability.