A senior U.S. diplomat handling missile defense will visit Seoul next week for meetings with defense, foreign affairs and American military officials, the State Department said, suggesting the trip is related to the proposed deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to the South.

Frank Rose, assistant secretary of state for arms control, verification and compliance, will be in Seoul from March 4-6 "for meetings with the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, U.S. Forces Korea, and at the Blue House," the department said in a release.

The Blue House refers to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

The State Department did not say what the topics of those meetings will be. But all of the agencies his interlocutors belong to are involved in the THAAD issue. That suggests the trip has something to do with the matter.

On March 6, Rose will also lead the U.S. delegation in the U.S.-South Korea Space Policy Dialogue, it said.

Shortly after North Korea's Feb. 7 long-range missile launch, South Korea and the U.S. jointly announced they would begin official discussions on the possible placement of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea.

That ended more than a year of soul-searching by Seoul over how to deal with the issue amid Washington's desire to deploy the system and China's intense opposition to it. The North's twin provocations of its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and the missile test a month later gave Seoul justification for the decision.

China has claimed THAAD can be used against it, despite repeated assurances from Washington that the system is aimed only at deterring North Korean threats. Beijing expressed regret after the South and the U.S. announced the decision to hold THAAD talks.

Despite the decision to begin official consultations, the two countries have insisted that they have not launched those talks yet. (Yonhap)