SEOUL, (Reuters) – South Korea and the United States said on Friday they would deploy an advanced missile defence system in South Korea to counter the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea, drawing a sharp and swift protest from neighbouring China.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, anti-missile system will be used only as protection against North Korea’s growing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, South Korea’s Defence Ministry and the U.S. Defense Department said.
“This is an important … decision,” General Vincent Brooks, commander of U.S. forces in South Korea, said in a statement. “North Korea’s continued development of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction require the alliance to take this prudent, protective measure to bolster our … missile defense.”
The announcement came a day after the U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted leader North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for human rights abuses. North Korea called this “a declaration of war” and vowed a tough response.
Beijing said on Friday it lodged complaints with the U.S. and South Korean ambassadors over the THAAD decision. It also criticized the decision to impose sanctions on the leader of its ally North Korea.
Analysts say the U.S. moves are likely to further raise tensions between Washington and Beijing ahead of an international court ruling due on Tuesday in a case the Philippines, a U.S. ally, has brought against China’s extensive claims in the South China Sea.
China said the THAAD system would destabilize the regional security balance without achieving anything to end North Korea’s nuclear programme. China is North Korea’s main ally but it opposes its pursuit of nuclear weapons and backed tough new United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang in March.
“China strongly urges the United States and South Korea to stop the deployment process of the THAAD anti-missile system, not take any steps to complicate the regional situation and do nothing to harm China’s strategic security interests,” China’s Foreign Ministry said.
