“KMPR has been described as a part of a “three-axis system” of South Korea’s military in response to North Korea’s provocations, with Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) – Seoul’s homegrown anti-missile systems – and Kill Chain, a pre-emptive strike system by the South Korea-U.S”.
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China, whose full backing is widely seen as crucial for sanctions on North Korea to be effective, is strongly opposed to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system and some experts have argued it should be part of talks on new United Nations measures.
“No. The two countries have made a decision”, Russel, the USA assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told reporters when asked whether THAAD was negotiable.
He spoke just two weeks after North Korea’s fifth and most powerful nuclear test provoked worldwide condemnation, prompting the UN Security Council to begin work on a new sanctions resolution.
Pyongyang’s top diplomat said nuclear armament is national policy and the weapons are necessary to defend his country against other “hostile” nuclear powers like the United States. Russel later told a news briefing discussions were still at an early stage, but he was confident that a new United Nations resolution would be agreed before long, imposing further sanctions and tightening existing ones.
He said the sanctions would prevent Pyongyang from abusing worldwide infrastructure, including banking and shipping, and furthering its nuclear program.
“As long as there exists a nuclear weapon state in hostile relations with the DPRK (North Korea), our national security and the peace on the Korean peninsula can be defended only with reliable nuclear deterrence”, he said.
The North also made clear that it will not give in to growing global pressure to dissuade it from pushing forward with its nuclear ambitions, further clouding outlooks for any imminent breakthrough, they predicted.
China, a North Korea’s main ally, is strongly opposed to the plan, but has expressed its anger over North Korea’s repeated missile and nuclear tests in the region.
North Korea has said it’s beefing up its nuclear program, and the country recently completed its fifth nuclear test. On Monday, Washington said US President Barack Obama and China’s Premier Li Keqiang agreed in a meeting on the sidelines of the UN assembly to step up cooperation in the UN Security Council and in law enforcement channels.
This year’s U.N. General Assembly was marked once again by clear differences on how to handle the current impasse by North and South Korea, which remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice treaty.
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Yung accused North Korea’s government of engaging in a “fanatical and reckless pursuit” of nuclear and missile programs that had reduced the country to a wasteland of poverty and oppression.
