North Korea on Wednesday labelled South Korean President Park Geun-Hye a “psychopath” after she made a speech slamming Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions and defending the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system.
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Tensions on the Korean peninsula have run high since North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January, followed with a satellite launch and a string of test launches of missiles.
A spokesman for the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country said Park’s argument was “preposterous” and unfounded.
Mutual suspicion is taking hold of China and South Korea as the USA readies to deploy a missile defense system to its East Asian ally, a move Beijing sees as a national security threat.
The THAAD system is created to intercept short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles at the terminal incoming stage. It claims that the systems, specifically it powerful “X-band” radar, can be used to monitor China’s airspace and its advanced radar system.
Ever since South Korea approved the United States’ plan to deploy the THAAD missile system on its soil, relations between Beijing and Seoul have suddenly hit rock bottom. She also warned the North that all attempts to provoke and intimidate the South would be counter-productive. “Beijing wants a stable government in North Korea, but the Chinese also want other countries with a voice in the region to understand and respect their own security concerns”, he added.
US and South Korea measures to deploy the deterrent began to move quickly after North Korea successfully tested a midrange missile in June that could pose an existential threat to USA military bases in Guam and Japan. Seoul said North Korea fired first, but North Korea denied firing and responded with anger.
Similarly, US Army Gen. Charles Jacoby, former commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), stressed the importance of deploying THAAD to protect the Korean peninsula and US interests, despite it upsetting near peers like Russian Federation and China.
“This is not a good situation”, Preston explained.
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The main body of the missile landed in Japan’s economic exclusion zone, a Japanese defence official said, escalating regional tensions that were already high after a series of missile launches and the decision by the United States to place a sophisticated anti-missile system in South Korea.
