Russia, China oppose US missile-defense in South Korea

World Today

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 11, 2016. The foreign ministers of China and Russia are opposing the possible deployment of an advanced American missile-defense system in South Korea. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

The foreign ministers of China and Russia are opposing the possible deployment of an advanced American missile-defense system in South Korea.

Amid escalating tensions over DPRK’s nuclear arsenal, Washington and Seoul last week began formal talks on deploying the sophisticated THAAD system.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference Friday after meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that putting the system in South Korea would “inflict direct harm to the strategic security interests of China and Russia.”

Lavrov said deploying the system would be an overreaction.

“The plans, which the U.S. has been nursing together with the Republic of Korea, exceed any conceivable threats that may come from DPRK, even taking Pyongyang’s current actions into account,” he said.

Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he planned to visit China in the summer and meet the country’s President Xi Jinping.

He made the announcement during a meeting in Moscow with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Story by the Associated Press.