Moscow has warned that the deployment of a sophisticated U.S. missile-defense system to South Korea could "provoke an arms race" in the region and "complicate the resolution of the nuclear problem" on the Korean Peninsula.

In a February 10 statement, the Foreign Ministry accused Washington of using Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests as a pretext to expand its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

China has also argued that the deployment of the THAAD system to South Korea would undermine regional stability.

South Korean and U.S. defense officials said they would begin formal talks on the deployment of the THAAD system to counter the growing threat of North Korea's weapons capabilities, after Pyongyang's launch of a long-range rocket into space on February 7.