UPDATES WITH CHINA’S REACTION
By Alex Jensen
SEOUL (AA) – An American anti-missile system aims at containing North Korea’s nuclear weapons is now “operational” in the South, U.S. military said Tuesday.
A statement issued by U.S. Forces Korea said the American battery “has the ability to intercept North Korean missiles”.
On Tuesday, China reacted against the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), demanding U.S. and South Korea to immediately halt the process.
Speaking at a regular news conference in the capital Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Geng Shuang said his government was against the deployment of the THAAD.
He said China would take strict precautions to defend its interest.
The spokesman stressed on the need for dialogue to resolve North Korea’s nuclear issue.
With nearly 30,000 American troops based in the South, THAAD is not the first deployment of U.S. hardware to the peninsula, but Beijing is concerned about the system’s potential spying capability.
Last month, South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party denounced the deployment as ‘rushed and unilateral’.
The North has carried out 50 known ballistic missile tests and three nuclear experiments since leader Kim Jong-un came to power in 2011.
THAAD’s key parts arrived only last week in the South’s remote Seongju County, where protesters are upset by the swift deployment because of health, environment and security risks.
Critics believe Seoul rushed the installation so it cannot be easily reversed after next Tuesday’s South Korean presidential election, which is expected to be won by THAAD-cautious candidate Moon Jae-in.
There has been added controversy over U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent request to the South to pay THAAD’s $1 billion cost, despite a previous agreement that Seoul would provide the land and Washington would pay for the battery itself.
While South Korea insists the original deal remains in force, the local economy has already paid a relatively heavy price for THAAD due to alleged Chinese sanctions stemming from Beijing’s open disapproval of the system.
North Korea was firm in its own condemnation Tuesday, as a state-controlled website accused Seoul of “bringing in the source of a catastrophe which South Korean people detest”.
