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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Economy

[THAAD] US conveyed ‘strong’ message over China’s THAAD retaliation: envoy

  • PUBLISHED :March 22, 2017 - 17:26
  • UPDATED :March 22, 2017 - 17:26
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[THE INVESTOR] US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised strong objections to China’s escalating economic retaliation against South Korea over advanced missile defense assets to be deployed here during his recent visit to Beijing, a US envoy said on March 22.

Tillerson met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi last weekend as part of his Northeast Asia tour that included stops in Seoul and Tokyo.

But the secretary’s failure to address the issue of THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, during a joint news conference Saturday with Wang prompted regrets in South Korea. At an earlier press session in Seoul with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Tillerson called China’s retaliatory actions “unnecessary, inappropriate and troubling.”

Apparently mindful of the criticism, Joseph Yun, the US special representative for North Korea policy and deputy assistant secretary for Korea and Japan who accompanied Tillerson on the trip, said the secretary made “strong points” on THAAD during the closed-door meetings with Chinese officials.

“The secretary conveyed it very strongly to the Chinese side and the secretary also said in private meetings that really retaliating against a defensive system which China has done was something that was uncalled for and something of a growing concern for us. So I believe those points were well delivered by the secretary,” Yun said at the outset of talks in Seoul with his counterpart Kim Hong-kyun.

With the THAAD deployment already in motion, China has been intensifying its retaliation against South Korea across sectors from trade and retail to culture and tourism. Beijing argues the system targets it, therefore undermining its security interests.

THAAD and North Korea’s nuclear program are expected to be key features in a summit next month between Xi and US President Donald Trump. During Tillerson’s visit, the sides also discussed Washington’s ongoing North Korea policy review, Yun added.

Kim noted that the secretary sent a “strong and clear message” in Seoul over the North’s nuclear development and China’s THAAD retaliation, saying it must have been delivered to the two countries.

Ahead of the top nuclear negotiators’ meeting, Pyongyang fired an unidentified missile from the east coast in an apparent show of force but it appears to have exploded midair, the South Korean military said.

The latest provocation followed the communist state’s launch of four ballistic missiles early this month, and experiment of a new high-thrust rocket engine Saturday which was deemed as a step toward a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

“It is not helpful at all. These are tests that have been banned by the UN Security Council resolutions, so it’s not very helpful,” Yun said.

During his four-day stay here, the envoy visited not only Seoul diplomats but some leading presidential candidates and their aides. He met with South Chungcheong Gov. An Hee-jung and Rep. Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party on Tuesday, and those from the campaign of Democratic Party front-runner Moon Jae-in on March 22.

Despite transitional uncertainties, Yun reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to the alliance and sustained close policy cooperation including through next month’s visit to Seoul by Vice President Mike Pence.
“I think that shows the highest level of engagement that we have done. I want to thank you on your part also making sure that the alliance relationship and our approach to North Korea is very closely coordinated,” he said.

By Shin Hyon-hee/The Korea Herald (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)





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