China, Russia blame US on North Korea missile plan

BEIJING, Friday

China and Russia have rapped US plans to put a missile defence system on the Korean peninsula, less than 24 hours after Pyongyang tested rockets thought to be capable of reaching American territory.

A series of missile tests and nuclear blasts by North Korea have pushed Seoul into talks with Washington about deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system, which fires projectiles to smash into enemy missiles.

Beijing fears the presence of more US hardware on its doorstep would further tip the balance of power in the Pacific towards Washington.

“We are gravely concerned about the US likely deployment of the system in South Korea,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a briefing with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. “It goes beyond the actual defence needs of relevant countries.”

“It will directly affect the strategic security of China and Russia if it is deployed,” he added.

Lavrov condemned the US for using the North’s tests as “an excuse” to deploy Washington’s “global anti-ballistic missile defence”.

Meanwhile, South Korean and US activists launched anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border where tensions have been running high since the isolated state’s last nuclear test in January.

Twenty activists, including former defectors from North Korea, launched around 300,000 leaflets in packages tied to gas-filled balloons from a spot near the heavily-militarised frontier.

The regular leaflet exercises have long angered Pyongyang, which has threatened military retaliation against the activists.

In October 2014, North Korean guards attempted to shoot down some of the balloons, sparking a brief exchange of fire across the border. One balloon carried a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and a slogan calling for his overthrow.

“The people need to know the enemy of the North Koreans is Kim Jong-Un,” said Suzanne Scholte, an activist.