South Korea reaffirmed Monday its long-held stance of not purchasing an advanced missile-defense battery from the United States amid growing calls from its ruling party lawmakers to introduce it to better guard against North Korea's missiles.

The U.S. has hinted at the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on Korean soil, home to about 28,500 American troops, to better cope with the growing threats of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile capabilities.

"The defense ministry has no plan to purchase a THAAD system," ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told a regular briefing.

"Basically, the system would do good to better defend the country from missiles from North Korea, but we will make a judgment by putting the national interest as our top priority."

While officials here, including defense minister Han Min-koo, have said its deployment would be helpful for the security of the Korean Peninsula, though the nation is not considering buying the system, the Seoul government has said it will make a decision "after the U.S. sets its position and asks for cooperation or any consultation."

The issue has been the focus of attention here as the move is seen by critics as part of a broader U.S. attempt to get the Asian ally to join its missile-defense (MD) system. But instead of joining the U.S. system, South Korea has been developing its own Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD), a low-tier air defense program, and the Kill Chain, which is designed to launch strikes right after signs are detected of imminent nuclear or missile provocations by Pyongyang.

"We will establish an MD system of our own against North Korea's ballistic missiles by developing L-SAM and M-SAM surface-to-air missiles," Kim stressed. (Yonhap)