The United States believes that the THAAD missile defense system has a role to play in East Asia in terms of deterrence and force protection, a senior White House official said Thursday.

Jon Wolfsthal, senior director for arms control and nonproliferation at the National Security Council, made the remark during a security seminar in response to a question about calls for more missile defense in the region, including the possibility of THAAD deployment to South Korea, in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test.

"If we see a need or if there is a desire among Japan or South Korea and the United States to cooperate and deploy those capabilities, we believe that there is a role for them both in deterrence and protection of forces," he said during the Center for American Progress seminar. 

"But I don't have anything that we're going to announce or changes that we have in mind today," he said.

Talk of deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to South Korea has gained traction in the wake of last week's nuclear test. South Korean President Park Geun-hye said during a New Year's news conference she will consider the issue according to national interests.

It is no secret that the U.S. also wants to deploy a THAAD unit to South Korea, where some 28,500 American troops are stationed, to better defend against ever-growing threats from North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

But the issue has become one of the most sensitive for South Korea because China sees a potential THAAD deployment as a threat to their security interests and have increased pressure on Seoul to reject such a deployment.

Seoul and Washington have maintained they have never held any formal consultations on the issue.

Wolfsthal said that the U.S. will maintain a credible nuclear deterrent and regional security architectures with missile defenses and conventional capabilities so as to reassure its non-nuclear allies and partners that they do not need nuclear weapons of their own.

"What we have worked with Japan and South Korea for many years through our treaty alliance is to say that, 'You don't need to rely on nuclear capabilities of your own because we are here and that commitment to you is unbreakable,'" Wolfsthal said.

"We believe and have laid out in the nuclear posture review in 2009 and 2010 that the maintenance of a credible nuclear deterrent is valuable not only for protecting the United States but also has a valuable nonproliferation role to play," he added. (Yonhap)