China has announced its call out for North Korea to cease its nuclear and missile tests, hoping to discharge the materializing intense condition between the country and U.S. as well as South Korea.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed that the U.S. and South Korea should put a stop to their annual joint military drills, which consistently intimidates the North, as reported by the BBC. This is expected to ease the intense relationship between the countries and also worries shared by many nations including China.
Wang made the comments on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China's parliament in Beijing. This shout out is made right after the deployment of the U.S. advanced anti-missile defense system in South Korea, addressing concern that it may result in regional security balance demolition.
The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system by the U.S. is a response to the move of North Korea's test-launched four missiles on Monday that shocked the world. Thaad is designed to protect South Korea, and US troops based there, from North Korean missile attacks. It is also known that the launcher trucks can hold up to eight interceptor missiles.
In response to China's comment, the U.S. Statement Department has clarified that the anti-missile system is not a threat to China, but a response to North Korea's recent provocations, as reported by CNBC.
"Given North Korea's recent behavior, we're not at the point where we're looking at direct engagement with them," State Department spokesman Mark Toner cited in Bloomberg. "We're not rewarding that behavior in any way, shape, or form."
In the same note, Bloomberg also pointed out that Kim has pushed forward his efforts to acquire the ability to hit the continental U.S. with a nuclear warhead since six-party talks went down in 2009. North Korea warned this week that U.S.-South Korea war exercises were the main reason leading to the brink of a "nuclear disaster."
