South Korea's presidential office on Sunday urged China to raise questions over North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, instead of criticizing the planned installation of an advanced anti-missile system on South Korean soil.
In a statement, Cheong Wa Dae said Chinese media's criticism of the recent decision by Seoul and Washington to install the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea is unreasonable.
The statement from the office of President Park Geun-hye also asked six lawmakers from South Korea's main opposition party to reconsider their plan to visit China over the THAAD issue.
Chinese state-controlled media outlets have recently published numerous columns and news reports critical of Seoul's THAAD decision and even the South Korean leader.
On Wednesday, the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of China's Communist Party, said in an editorial that Park should resolve the issue prudently to avoid driving her country to ruin.
"Chinese media are putting the cart before the horse in insisting that Seoul's decision to deploy the THAAD system in its territory is the cause of Pyongyang's successive ballistic missile launches and other military provocations," the statement said. "The fundamental reason for the decision to deploy THAAD lies in the rising nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. If such threats from the North disappear, THAAD won't be needed."
Cheong Wa Dae then urged China to raise much stronger questions over North Korea, which has destabilized the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia after four nuclear weapons tests and more than 10 ballistic missile launches this year alone, instead of raising questions over South Korea's "purely defensive measure."
It mentioned a plan by six first-term lawmakers from the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea to visit China on Aug. 8-10 to discuss the THAAD issue with Beijing officials.
"Cheong Wa Dae urges the leaders and individual members of the MPK to reconsider the planned visit to China. The political circles should join hands to enhance the security of the nation and the people," said the statement.(Yonhap)
