China opposes deployment of THAAD in South Korea

The potential collapse of North Korea is a perennial worry for Beijing, which sees it as a buffer against the U.S. military presence in South Korea and worries that instability could unleash a flood of refugees across its border.

This year Pyongyang has conducted a nuclear test and launched a satellite on a rocket condemned by much of the world as a test of banned missile technology.

China has long urged a resumption of talks over North Korea’s nuclear programme, arguing that sanctions are not an end in themselves.

North Korean restaurants worldwide are often run by the secretive state and must remit most of their earnings home to the regime.

According to “multiple South Korean government sources”, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on 14 February that North Korea had formed a “new military unit” subordinate to its Strategic Rocket Forces to field the KN08.

The allies were also expected to begin discussions on the deployment of the advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system.

Seoul and Washington have said the rocket launch was in fact a long-range missile test that violated UN Security Council resolutions.

South Korea’s main liberal opposition party has criticized the government’s decision to suspend operations at Kaesong, saying the measure will hurt only South Korean businessmen and deepen tensions with North Korea.

Without elaborating, Park said the North has diverted Seoul payments to North Korean workers at the factory park to the Pyongyang leadership, which is in charge of nuclear and missile development.

President Barack Obama’s top national security adviser Susan Rice said on Monday that she expects China will support new global sanctions on North Korea for its recent rocket launches. Those efforts have since fizzled.

Nevertheless, a report by the US Defence Department on Friday expressed concern that the KN-08 has a range of more than 3,400 miles, which would put much of the continental US within range of North Korea’s mobile launchers.

“The deployment of the THAAD system by the United States…goes far beyond the defense needs of the Korean Peninsula and the coverage would mean it will reach deep into the Asian continent”, Wang said on the sidelines of the Munich meeting.

“There should be a consensus whether we should consider the North Korean regime our dialogue partner amid persistent threats”, Na said.