North Korea’s foreign minister warned the United States on Tuesday that it would pay a “terrifying price” for spearheading global sanctions against Pyongyang, hours after Secretary of State John Kerry criticized the country’s nuclear program.
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South Korea’s decision to deploy an advanced US anti-missile defence system does not threaten China’s security, a senior US administration official said on Tuesday at the end of a visit to China by US National Security Adviser Susan Rice.
In the face of continued North Korean provocation, the United States spearheaded the drafting of a new UN resolution adopted unanimously in March by Security Council members, including China – North Korea’s main diplomatic protector and economic benefactor.
“By operating the U.S. THAAD battery in Seongju, we will be able to better protect one half to two-thirds of our citizens from North Korean nuclear and missile threats”, the ministry said in a statement.
North Korea has continued to violate United Nations sanctions with further missile tests in recent weeks.
“(The) issue that came up in almost every meeting I had so far this week is the provocative and deeply concerning behaviour of the DPRK”, he told reporters.
“And recently they committed the most grave hostility by insulting our Dear Leader”, Ri said, referring to the USA decision to personally blacklist Kim Jong-Un over human rights abuses. Kerry is also said to have shaken hands with every foreign minister at a Monday banquet except Ri, whom the top US diplomat walked right past.
Wang and Yun met late on Sunday on the sidelines of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference of foreign ministers in Vientiane.
On the other side of the border, South Korea accused their northern counterpart of dropping propaganda leaflets near the Han River next to Seoul for the first time. In South Korea, the date is commemorated as Armistice Agreement Day, marking the signing of the armistice agreement that ended the hostilities in the Korean War.
“North Korea’s actions present a very serious threat, not just to this region but to global peace and security”.
It says the leaflets contained threats to launch missile attacks on South Korea and praises of the North’s political system.
South Korea announced Tuesday it would test the electromagnetic waves coming from the powerful radar used in the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system again.
Little emerged from Ri’s meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
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The North was seen to be in a state of readiness to conduct an additional nuclear test, according to South Korean officials and experts.
