(via Lockheed Martin)

President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye plan to discuss threats from China and North Korea during Park's visit to the White House on Friday.

In a conflict with either country, South Korea would benefit from the potential US deployment of Lockheed Martin's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the country.

And the top US military official in South Korea told a forum last year that placing THAAD missiles in the country is a "US initiative."

"There was consideration being taken in order to consider THAAD being deployed here in Korea," Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the commander of United States Forces Korea (USFK), said, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

"It is a US initiative, and in fact, I recommended it as the commander."

The THAAD is a missile interceptor that can hunt and blast incoming missiles with a 100% success rate. Simply put, it's one of the most advanced missile-defense systems on Earth. Its possible future deployment to South Korea is already cause for concern in Beijing.

According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, "the only concern" that China has with the White House summit between Obama and Park is the "deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in the South."

With its unmatched precision and mobility, the THAAD can neutralize the kind of aerial bombardment that North Korea would undoubtedly inflict on the South during a potential conflict in the Korean Peninsula.

A THAAD system in South Korea would nearly eliminate any threat of incoming missiles from North Korea:

(The Heritage Foundation)
THAAD systems don't provide total coverage, though, and were designed to intercept short- and medium-range ballistic missiles during the "terminal" stage of their flight path. W

hile a threat from North Korea would be countered, certain ballistic missiles from China, including medium-range missiles, would get past the system:

(The Heritage Foundation)

Currently the Pentagon has deployed a THAAD battery to Guam in order to deter North Korean provocations and further defend the Pacific region.

By the end of 2016, the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is scheduled to deliver an additional 48 THAAD interceptors to the US military, bringing the total up to 155, according to a statement from MDA director Vice Admiral J.D. Syring before the House Armed Service Committee.

The THAAD missile does not carry a warhead, instead using pure kinetic energy to deliver "hit-to-kill" strikes to incoming ballistic missiles inside or outside the atmosphere. Each launcher carries up to eight missiles and can send multiple kill vehicles at once, depending on the severity of the threat.