South Korea and the United States announced this month that they would deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile system – a move strong opposed by China, which has deep security concerns that information about its military facilities could be easily penetrated by the weaponry’s radar system.
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South Korea and the United States have said THAAD will only be used in defense against North Korean ballistic missiles, but China has warned it would destabilize the regional security balance.
China is South Korea’s largest export market and also a key partner in Seoul’s efforts to curb North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
But several North Korean nuclear and missile tests this year have led South Korea to reconsider.
In a meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, who is also in Laos, Wang said China and North Korea were traditional friends, and China was committed to the Korean peninsula’s denuclearization and to resolving problems through talks, the ministry added.
Relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have frayed this year after North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and a series of missile launches put the region on edge.
“Mr. Ri on Tuesday said the US had made a declaration of war by criticizing North Korea’s human-rights record”.
“We are ready to show that even a [powerful] country will surely not be safe if it tries to torment and harm a small country”, Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said during a regional security conference hosted by Laos.
“The situation simply can not be tolerated”, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said at the meeting, said his spokesman, Yasuhisa Kawamura.
Pictures broadcast this week on Chinese television were the third time since 2010 that China has publicly indicated tests of its own anti-missile system, state media said.
North Korea carried out a number of nuclear tests and rocket launches leading up to the Workers’ Party congress this May.
While the United States insists the system is to defend South Korea from possible attacks from North Korea, Chinese officials have condemned its planned deployment, saying it threatens Chinas security.
The US is due to hold sideline talks with China and Russian Federation, but US officials said a meeting with Pyongyang’s envoy is highly unlikely.
At the meeting Ri said, “We have made various proposals aimed at resolving inter-Korean relations through conversation and negotiations but all of them have been rejected”.
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Their meeting marks the third round of high-level strategic consultations on North Korea policy that were established under an agreement President Park Geun-hye reached with U.S. President Barack Obama at their summit in October.
