South Korea and the United States say they will deploy an advanced missile defence system in South Korea to counter a threat from North Korea, drawing sharp and swift protest from neighbouring China.
The South's Defence Ministry and the U.S. Defence Department said the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or (THAAD) anti-missile system will be used only as protection against North Korea's growing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. Beijing said on Friday it lodged complaints with the U.S. and South Korean ambassadors over the THAAD decision.
China said the system would destabilise the security balance in the region without achieving anything to end the North's nuclear programme. China is North Korea's main ally but opposes its pursuit of nuclear weapons and backed the latest U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang in March. China worries the THAAD system's radar will be able to track its own military capabilities.
The decision to deploy THAAD is the latest move to squeeze the increasingly isolated North, which also includes a series of bilateral sanctions by Seoul and Washington as well as layers of U.N. sanctions.