Xi warns South Korea that anti-missile defense could ‘intensify disputes’

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday told his South Korean counterpart Park Geunhye that China opposes the US THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) antimissile system in South Korea and warned of the possibility of escalating tensions if it is deployed.

Xi and Park held a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hangzhou following Seoul’s decision in July to install the system in its territory to counter against increasing North Korean military activity.

“Mishandling the issue is not conducive to strategic stability in the region and could intensify disputes,” Xi said, as quoted by state news agency Xinhua.

During the meeting, Xi also reaffirmed China’s commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and insisted that dialogue was the way to resolve the dispute.

After Kim Jongun’s regime showed significant progress in developing its nuclear weapons and programs, South Korea sought to boost national security by deploying THAAD, which is capable of intercepting missiles from North Korea.

However the Chinese and Russian governments see it as a direct threat to their security as they fear the system’s powerful radar can be used to obtain intelligence from their closest military bases.