North Korea threatens action over US anti-missile system

Seoul and Washington on Friday revealed their decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the South following recent North Korean missile and nuclear tests.

The two allies have not yet revealed exactly when and where the system, which fires projectiles to smash into enemy missiles, would be deployed but said they were in the final stage of selecting a potential venue. 

“The DPRK will take a physical counter-action to thoroughly control THAAD... from the moment its location and place have been confirmed in South Korea,” the artillery bureau of the North’s military said in a statement. North Korea’s military, which has “Sufficient latest offensive strike means”, will take “more merciless and powerful successive corresponding measures against the US keen to ignite a war by deploying THAAD,” it said. 

Seoul denounced the “ridiculous threats” by the North, which had staged serious provocations including a nuclear test in January and a long range rocket launch in February. “North Korea must recognise who is threatening peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and first apologise for its provocations,” defence ministry spokesman Moon Sang-Gyun told reporters.

The planned deployment of the powerful anti-missile system has angered the South’s neighbours including China, which said the move would “seriously damage” regional security in northeast Asia.