Pressure grows on south korean government over THAAD system deployment
Pressure grows on south korean government over THAAD system deployment
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses next to his personal plane on Thursday, July 19, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang. The Kims said Thursday that they wanted China’s help in developing its nuclear program and asked th강원출장마사지e Chinese to prepare for future war. Reuters Photo
North Korean officials said on Wednesday that the country has put on hold an official trip scheduled for early next week to China, amid ongoing discussions with South Korea and the United States over its development of a nuclear-capable ICBM.
Kim Jong Un, the North’s top leader, has called for peace with the United States and South Korea, saying the two sides should unite to fight U.S.-led U.N. sanctions on the North.
The meeting, scheduled for July 14, is the third and final stop on a five-day Chinese tour for Kim, who is due to fly to Russia July 26.
On Tuesday, North Korea accused South Korea of seeking to interfere in the country’s internal affairs over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, a United States defense system on the border with the North.
South Korea had initially backed the deployment, saying it was aimed at preventing North Korean missiles from reaching its territory and that the country had the right to defend itself if threatened.
China, however, said the U.S. missile system was not aimed at attacking North Korea but was for self-defense against a conventional attack.
It was not immediately clear whether the North was threatening to withdraw from South Korea for co진주출장샵nsultations in Beijing next week.
The North is still locked in a fo천안출장마사지ur-year standoff with Washington over its nuclear weapons program that has left at least 11 dead and caused tens of thousands to flee to South Korea and Japan.
North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006 provoked an international economic crisis and triggered fresh sanctions, which the North has often parried by saying it will always abide by the U.N. sanctions.