The decision by South Korea and the United States to begin consultations on the potential deployment of the THAAD missile defense system doesn't mean the two sides have agreed to deploy the system, the U.S. Pacific commander said Thursday.

"Neither South Korea nor the United States have agreed to put a THAAD in Korea," Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. said at a Pentagon briefing. "The decision to discuss it is not necessarily a decision to do it, not yet. So, we're having the discussions now, and we'll see how they turn out."

The remarks contrast with the strong tones that he and other U.S. commanders have spoken with while stressing the importance of placing the advanced defense system in the South to better defend against growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

That suggests the U.S. could back down on the issue in the face of intense opposition from China or in exchange for Beijing's cooperation in U.S. efforts to adopt a strong U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile tests.

Harris, however, reiterated previous remarks that China's interference in a decision that's to be made between Seoul and Washington is "preposterous, especially when you consider that THAAD is not a threat to China."

The system is designed to "defend the Americans that are in Korea, their families and the Koreans. And if China wanted to exert a lot of influence on somebody to prevent THAAD from being considered going into Korea, then they should exert that influence on North Korea," he said.

China has voiced strong protests since South Korea and the U.S. jointly announced earlier this month, shortly after the North's Feb. 7 long-range missile test, that they would begin official discussions on the possible placement of the THAAD system in South Korea.

Both Seoul and Washington have repeatedly assured Beijing that THAAD is a purely defensive system. Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also said that the system wouldn't be necessary if North Korea were denuclearized. (Yonhap)