Presidential office says it is carefully watching THAAD fallout

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday that it is "closely watching" for negative economic fallout from the recent decision by Seoul and Washington to deploy an antimissile system here.

The statement comes amid growing fears that China, which strongly opposes the stationing of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea, could take some retaliatory steps, including some form of economic sanctions.

"With regard to (China's possible) economic sanctions, we are closely watching the situation," Kang Seog-hoon, the president's senior secretary for economic affairs, told reporters.

Chinese state-run media outlets have published articles claiming that Beijing should take retaliatory measures against Seoul in response to the plan to deploy a THAAD battery, which Beijing says would undermine its security interests.

Kang said that the leaders of South Korea and China may have an opportunity to meet each other and possibly discuss the issue surrounding THAAD when they gather at the Asia-Europe Meeting summit in Mongolia later this week.

President Park Geun-hye will attend the two-day ASEM summit slated to begin on Friday. Premier Li Keqiang will reportedly represent China at the gathering.

On Monday, South Korea's Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, said that China may separate the political issues from the economic ones, and that he does not anticipate any "massive reprisal" from China.  (Yonhap)