PYONGYANG, October 2. /TASS/. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) warned on Thursday of a regional arms race that could escalate if an advanced US missile defense system is deployed in South Korea.

The deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) “will entail political and military confrontation, and will lead to the arms race in Northeast Asia,” the agency said in a commentary published in local newspapers.

The warning comes in response to Washington’s statements that the possible deployment of the THAAD, a key element of the multilayered global US missile defense program, is set to counter the growing military threat from North Korea.

A top American defense official, Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency on Tuesday that Washington and Seoul are in talks about the possible deployment of the THAAD.

The US has already moved one THAAD battery to the Pacific island of Guam "in response to North Korean provocations," he said.

The KCNA news agency said the United States is seeking to use South Korea “to fulfill its strategy aimed at gaining dominance in the Asia-Pacific”, and then “a major armed conflict could erupt.”

Pyongyang has earlier announced plans to boost its nuclear potential in case the US mobile missile complex THAAD is deployed.

Russia and China have voiced concerns over Washington’s attempts to bring the new missile defense system to the Korean Peninsula.