South Korea on Sunday, August 7, rejected China’s criticism over the planned deployment in the South of a U.S. anti-missile system, saying Beijing’s failure to curb its ally North Korea had created the situation.
Advertisement
Seoul’s decision to deploy the powerful United States system, to counter a growing threat from North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, threatens to damage relations with its largest trading partner Beijing. Lawmakers with South Korea’s opposition parties, including Rep. Son Hye-won, a lawmaker with the Minjoo Party of Korea, have used social media to encourage people to sign the petition against THAAD.
South Korea’s presidential office rebuked on Sunday China’s criticism of its decision to deploy an advanced anti-missile defense, urging Beijing to instead play a stronger role against North Korea’s provocations on the peninsula. Readers can sign the petition by entering their name and email address in the form on the right site of the website.
The ongoing row is threatening to undo the substantial effort President Park has put into strengthening ties with China, which is not only South Korea’s largest trade partner but also the key player in curbing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
The United States had circulated a draft statement that strongly condemned the August 2 launch and expressed particular concern that the ballistic missile landed near Japan.
The United States and Japan called for a swift and powerful response from the Security Council, including the quick adoption of a condemnation statement.
Pyongyang has accused Washington of aligning its nuclear forces closer to North Korea to increase its chances of conducting a pre-emptive strike, as Pacific Air Forces dispatched speedy and low-flying B-1B bombers to Guam for the first time in 10 years.
“To propose that this council should criticise purely defensive steps that states have taken to protect their people from the DPRK’s clear and repeated ballistic missile threats. would be manifestly inappropriate and would send entirely the wrong message to the DPRK”, the U.S. mission to the United Nations told council diplomats.
Advertisement
The council in March adopted its toughest sanctions resolution to date, banning exports of coal, iron and other minerals from North Korea and imposing other restrictions, in particular in the banking sector.
