TOKYO (Sputnik) — On Saturday, a statement adopted at the ASEM summit strongly condemned North Korea's missile tests and called for vigilance against assistance to Pyongyang's nuclear program.
"Raising chances of a conflict on the Korean peninsula, the U.S. continues to carry out joint military drills and brings nuclear-powered submarines, bombers and other strategic weapons, including the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system, into South Korea," the ministry's spokesman said, as quoted by Yonhap agency.
On July 8, Seoul disclosed that it was going to station the THAAD missile defense system in the southern Seongju County. The governments of Russia and China protested the decision, stating that the agreement to deploy the THAAD system will have a highly negative impact on global strategic stability.
The THAAD system is designed to intercept short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles at the terminal incoming stage.
