New efforts to toughen missile defense in South Korea and sanctions legislation moving swiftly through Congress could both hurt Chinese interests.
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One U.S. official said the North Korean launch added urgency to longstanding informal discussions about a possible THAAD deployment to South Korea.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power says a new United Nations resolution targeting North Korea over its rocket launch and recent nuclear test must be adopted very quickly and include “unprecedented measures” that its leader, Kim Jong Un, doesn’t expect.
China has been skeptical about toughening U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea. Seoul, which hosts 28,500 USA forces, has been reluctant to initiate talks on the system that could hurt its improving relations with Beijing.
On Sunday, North Korea fired a long-range rocket, defying a UN Security Council resolution which bans Pyongyang from launching rockets that may be used as ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads.
Confirming the DPRK announcement, the defense ministry said the rocket went through normal separation of three stages, and that the satellite had been put into orbit normally.
China was quick to make its displeasure known.
He also said the United States “is consulting with the South Koreans for the first time about more missile defence capabilities to prevent any possibility that North Korea could reach U.S. facilities or USA populations”. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had on January 27 said after meeting Mr. Kerry: “We also agree that the Security Council need to take further action and pass a new resolution”.
North Korean rocket launches and nuclear tests are seen as crucial steps toward Pyongyang’s ultimate goal of a nuclear-armed missile that could hit the U.S. mainland. “Basically, the U.S. military is stationed in South Korea, and there is a Korea-U.S. alliance”.
The Senate is expected to pass Wednesday the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act that aims to expand and tighten economic restrictions to block the Kim regime’s access to hard currency, targeting both North Korean entities and companies in other countries like China that deal with them.
On Tuesday, the South Korean government said President Park Geun-hye had an “in-depth” phone discussion with U.S. President Obama.
A US defense official told CNN that plans to implement the missile defense system had been accelerated in response to the launch, and it could potentially be deployed within weeks.
On Monday, a senior USA defense official told CNN the satellite was “tumbling in orbit” and incapable of functioning in any useful way.
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“THAAD is partly about the US reassuring South Korea that it has its back, but at the same time there must be a broader picture discussion with China about how to handle North Korea”, he added.
