Chinese President XI Jinping in a conversation with his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-Hye spoke out against placing the US missile defense in South Korea, reports Xinhua. “Wrong actions in relation to this issue do not contribute to stability in the region and to intensify differences,” he said.
Jinping reaffirmed China’s commitment to realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, safeguard peace and stability on the Peninsula and solving problems through dialogue and consultation.
The agreement on the deployment of ABM systems THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) on the Korean Peninsula was reached in early July. THAAD is designed to intercept ballistic and other missiles at high altitudes.
Moscow has opposed the deployment of U.S. missile defense in South Korea. The foreign Ministry expressed concern that this will undermine the existing strategic balance in the region and beyond. The Ministry also warned about the threat of the emergence of new difficulties to resolve the situation on the Korean Peninsula including its denuclearization.
Seoul, in turn, has declared that the decision of South Korea and the United States to deploy a THAAD system is a part of self-defense because of growing missile threats from North Korea and is not directed against third countries, including Russia and China.
DPRK authorities meanwhile said that the decision to place a missile defense system in South Korea “Declaration of war” from the United States and vowed to take “physical” response to the placement of the system on the Peninsula.
