U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Thursday re-emphasized the importance of the deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the Korean peninsula, though the State Department stopped short of criticizing a recent decision by Seoul to delay the process.

During a regular press briefing in Washington on Thursday, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said South Korea's suspension on Wednesday of the full deployment of THAAD pending an environmental assessment had been a topic of conversation between the two secretaries, who also talked it over with President Trump at the White House later in the day.