“North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and ballistic missile provocations this year have gravely damaged peace on the Korean peninsula and the region and posed a challenge to the development of South Korea-China ties”, Park told Xi, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
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(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan).
With the summit taking place after Britain’s vote in June to exit the European Union and before the USA presidential election in November, observers expect G20 leaders to mount a defense of free trade and globalization and warn against isolationism.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea on Monday fired three medium-range missiles that traveled about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) and landed near Japan in an apparent show of force timed to coincide with the Group of 20 economic summit in China, South Korean officials said.
Under orders from its leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea has seen considerable advances in its ballistic missile programs.
Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the DPRK’s nuclear and missile developments are a provocative act showing threat to the Korean peninsula as well as neighboring countries and the worldwide community.
Shortly after the missile launches, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met on the sidelines of the G20 summit and agreed to cooperate on monitoring the situation, a Japanese statement said.
Ms. Park told Mr. Xi that concern in South Korea over North Korea’s threat was “unprecedented”, following Pyongyang’s successful tests of two new types of missiles that can be launched from mobile carriers or submarines, according to Kim Kyoung-hyun, South Korea’s senior secretary for foreign affairs and national security. The three missiles flew about 1,000 km and fell about 200 km to 250 km west of Okushiri Island off the western coast of Hokkaido.
“The timing may have something to do with the G-20, but we should not read too much from it”, Kotani said.
Park sought to allay Beijing’s resentment by underscoring THAAD would only be used to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats – not aimed at China, Russia or any other country – and once the dangers are gone, the asset would lose its reasons to stay here.
Chinese state media went so far last month as to warn that in case of a clash with the U.S., South Korea would be the “first military target”. Obama later talked with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but there was no immediate word on the outcome.
The AP notes that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been attempting to persuade Park to abandon the plan – China sees it as a US spying effort.
The stated objective of the THAAD system is to defend South Korea from missile attack from the North, but Beijing views it as an attempt to shift the regional power balance in favor of United States allies.
In early August, another Rodong missile fired by North Korea also travelled about 1,000 kilometers, the longest-ever flight distance by that missile.
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Monday’s launches were just the latest salvo in a steady series of missiles coming from North Korea.
