“The more efforts (the North) makes, the deeper the country’s isolation in the global community will be and the bigger its economic problems will be”, she said in a televised Liberation Day speech.
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South Korea has been trying harder to deter and respond to Pyongyang’s missile provocations, … especially in the light of the North’s seemingly incorrigible drive for nuclear weapons.
“The deployment of Thaad is an act of self defense”, Ms Park stressed in her speech, adding that her priority as President was to “protect the lives of our people from the reckless provocations of the North”.
Overwhelmed by the slogans of “For Peace, No THAAD”, the square of Seoul City Hall was crowded yesterday by almost 5,000 South Koreans protesting against the government’s latest attempt to collaborate with the United States and launch the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in the country’s southeastern Seongju County.
One of the THAAD criticisms is that the system would still leave South Korea vulnerable to an attack at close range, and Seoul’s defense ministry made clear last month it wishes to diversify its defense options.
The statement added that the force damaging peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula was the USA and its followers.
Seongju residents, many of them farmers cultivating a melon variety that has brought the county domestic fame, sat in somber silence as they had their heads shaved while a protest leader led a crowd in chants of “No THAAD!”
Milley, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, told his People’s Liberation Army counterpart Li Zuocheng that THAAD was a defensive measure, the U.S. Army said in a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
Some opposition lawmakers have actively sided with the residents and called for the deployment to be scrapped – a stance criticized by Park.
“I believe that such a matter”.
The deployment of B-1s is probably a response to ballistic missile tests that have been recently conducted by North Korea.
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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. She also noted that Seoul will provide a path to peace and mutual prosperity should Pyongyang make the right choice.
