Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is expected to run for president of South Korea, said on Sunday it is appropriate for the country to be the site of a US anti-missile system that is due to be deployed later this year. 
"Since the reality is the Korean peninsula is in a quasi-war-like state, such action made by the government is appropriate," Ban was quoted by South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agency as saying. 
Ban said he "understands THAAD deployment is made as a defensive measure, as ultimately North Korea is developing nuclear missiles and accumulating ballistic missile technology," he was quoted as telling reporters at the memorial for the 2010 sinking of a navy ship that South Korea blames on the North. 
Since his return home Thursday after his 10-year service at the UN, Ban has been making politically tinged moves, visiting tombs of former presidents, both liberal and conservative, and meeting with young voters and the socially disadvantaged, and with his supporters in his hometown of Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province, Yonhap said. 
Though he has yet to declare his presidential bid, the former foreign minister has repeatedly signaled his strong ambitions for presidency, vowing to work "for a change in politics, not for a change of government" in a thinly veiled swipe at establishment politicians.

Source: QNA