The full deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system will be halted pending an environmental impact assessment by the South Korean government, the Blue House, South Korea’s presidential office said on Wednesday afternoon.

The decision comes amid a developing controversy in South Korea over an alleged Ministry of National Defense (MND) decision not to inform the President about the arrival of the additional four missile launchers.

THAAD “can be deployed after finishing the environmental impact assessment,” Yoon Young-chan, Senior Secretary to the President for Public Relations, was quoted as saying by local media.

The two already-deployed