US Army chief visits China amid missile system tensions

In the Republic of Korea, more than 900 residents of Song-jew County shaved their heads to protest plans to deploy a USA missile defense system in the area.

But at the same time, he also says the U.S. side is threatening the relationship through the deployment of the THAAD Missile System in South Korea, as well as United States actions in the South China Sea. The aim is to effectively neutralize North Korean missiles before they can land. Experts here said the THAAD battery, composed of six mobile launchers, 48 interceptors, a radar and a fire control unit, is incapable of shooting down more than 1,000 DPRK missiles targeting South Korea.

In response to South Korean efforts to improve its national defense capabilities and Park’s criticisms of North Korea, a spokesperson for North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country said, “This is no more than nonsense talked by a psychopath“.

The latest menacing warning from North Korea comes just days after the U.S. said it had deployed nuclear-capable strategic bombers on the island of Guam, a move perceived in Pyongyang as a precursor to imminent armed aggression.

The US and South Korea made a decision to put the system there after months of increasing tensions with North Korea.

So, in a nutshell, China’s strong rhetoric against the THAAD deployment is nothing more than a publicity stunt to flex its diplomatic muscles on the global scene and to appease nationalist fanatics at home.

“(Park) is clearly stating that the South will not even try to engage in conversation with the North”, Cha said of the difference in tone this year.

Following Gen. Milley’s meetings in China, he is scheduled to travel to South Korea to meet with USA troops and South Korean military leaders.

“The Russian-US INF treaty does not apply to China, whose intermediate range missiles constitute a major threat to US aircraft carrier groups – the main tool of projecting US military power to the Asia-Pacific Region”, Zolotaryov said. Its radar is capable of identifying objects as small as 10-15 centimeters.

With the US and South Korea set to hold joint military drills in the coming weeks – an exercise that is dubbed by the North as a rehearsal for actual war – the Korean peninsula is bound to be heading for more volatile times. “China’s expansion and Russia’s strategic potential are its real aims”, Podberyozkin said.