China has demanded an ‘immediate’ halt to the deployment of a controversial US missile system in South Korea just hours after it became operational.
Beijing threatened to ‘take necessary measures to uphold our interests’ after the THAAD missile battery came online on a golf course in the county of Seongju.
Washington and Seoul believe the billion-dollar defense system is necessary to protect citizens after repeated North Korean missile tests, but China fears its powerful radar system will be used to spy on them.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said: ‘We oppose the deployment of the THAAD system and urge relevant sides to immediately stop the deployment.
‘We will firmly take necessary measures to uphold our interests.’
Not all South Koreans agree with their government over the system, with dozens protesting and saying it will provide a target for Kim Jong-un.
Separately, Mr Geng praised President Donald Trump’s surprise comments that he would be ‘honored’ to meet the North Korean leader.
He said that China ‘has always believed that dialogue and consultation… is the only realistic and viable way to achieve denuclearisation.
‘We also said many times that the US and [North Korea]… should make political decisions at an early date, take action and show good faith so that we can create a better atmosphere for resuming the peace talks and settling the issue.’
President Trump said he would meet Kim ‘under the right circumstances’, though did not make it clear what those would be.
Earlier, US Forces Korea said THAAD is ‘operational and has the ability to intercept North Korean missiles and defend the Republic.’
A US defence official said the system has only ‘reached initial intercept capability’, and still needs to be improved with additional components to arrive later this year.
The THAAD system is designed to intercept and destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight.
Beijing has imposed a host of measures seen as economic retaliation against the South for the THAAD deployment, including a ban on tour groups.
Retail conglomerate Lotte, which previously owned the golf course, has also been targeted, with 85 of its 99 stores in China shut down, while South Korea’s biggest automaker Hyundai Motor has said its Chinese sales have fallen sharply.
The THAAD deployment comes as tension soars on the Korean peninsula following a series of missile launches by the North and warnings from President Trump that military action is an ‘option on the table.’
Further complicating matters, Trump stunned Seoul last week when he suggested South Korea should pay for the $1billion THAAD system.
‘I informed South Korea it would be appropriate if they paid. It’s a billion-dollar system,’ Trump was quoted as saying in a published report.
‘It’s phenomenal, shoots missiles right out of the sky.’
Seoul retorted that under the Status of Forces Agreement that governs the US military presence in the country, the South would provide the THAAD site and infrastructure while the US would pay to deploy and operate it.
Thomas Karako, the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that South Korea’s sole THAAD battery does not quite have the range to cover the entire country.
But he called it an important first step.
‘This is not about a having a perfect shield, this is about buying time and thereby contributing to the overall credibility of deterrence,’ Karako said.
‘South Korea with THAAD helps communicate to the North that today is not a good day to attack. It doesn’t mean that they could not do a lot of damage – they would – but it strengthens the overall posture.’
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