There, he will receive reports on Seoul-Washington’s plans to deploy the THAAD system here to defend against North Korean ballistic missiles. “The more efforts (the North) makes, the deeper the country’s isolation in the worldwide community will be and the bigger its economic problems will be”, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said.
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“The system should not be deployed at all, not just in Seonjgu, but anywhere in South Korea”.
Milley also conveyed that the USA wants to maintain open channels of communications with the Chinese military in order to lessen the risk of crisis and resolve differences.
This year, following its fourth nuclear test in January and the consequent United Nations sanctions in March, the North has conducted 13 missile launches, including six intermediate-range Musudan missiles. This is the first Liberation Day speech since Park became president in which she did not make a single proposal to North Korea.
South Korea’s defense ministry, in conjunction with the USA, plans to have the unique air-defense system operational by the end of 2017.
In her address, Park urged North Korea to immediately end its nuclear and missile programs while defending Seoul’s planned deployment of an advanced USA missile defense system on its soil as a “self-defense” measure against the North’s evolving threats.
Milley met with his Chinese counterpart General Li Zuocheng and other senior People’s Liberation Army leaders amid strong Chinese protests over the decision to base the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, or THAAD, system south of the South Korean capital Seoul. Even amid growing conflict between South Korea and China since the decision to deploy the THAAD antimissile system in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province, Park did not offer any solution for this.
The Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army is in China for talks with top Chinese army commanders.
The announcement of the deployment of the missile system comes amid enduring tensions between the US and China over the disputes over islands in the South China Sea.
In addition to THAAD, Park addressed the state of human rights in North Korea.
The North Korean agent also asked one of the two South Koreans to look into the possibility of distributing counterfeit dollars, South Korean prosecutors said.
During a discussion at the Brookings Institution CIA Director John Brennan said that the deployment of THAAD to the region was an “obligation” on behalf of the US.
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“Pyongyang’s aggressiveness is an excuse that comes in handy for the United States to explain the deployment of the THAAD in South Korea. China’s expansion and Russia’s strategic potential are its real aims”, Podberyozkin said.
