Seoul rejects Trump demand it pays for missile system
South Korea says U.S. reaffirms it will pay THAAD costs; joint drills wrap up
A
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched
during a successful intercept test, in this undated handout photo
provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency. U.S.
Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency/Handout via Reuters/Files
By Ju-min Park and James Pearson
SEOUL
(Reuters) - South Korea said Washington had reaffirmed it would
shoulder the cost of deploying the THAAD anti-missile system, days after
U.S. President Donald Trump said Seoul should pay for the $1-billion
system designed to defend against nuclear-armed North Korea.
In
a telephone call on Sunday, Trump's national security adviser, H.R.
McMaster, reassured his South Korean counterpart, Kim Kwan-jin, that the
U.S. alliance with South Korea was its top priority in the Asia-Pacific
region, the South's presidential office said.
The
conversation followed another North Korean missile test-launch on
Saturday which Washington and Seoul said was unsuccessful, but which
drew widespread international condemnation.
Trump,
asked about his message to North Korea after the latest missile test,
told reporters: "You'll soon find out", but did not elaborate on what
the U.S. response would be.
Trump's
comments in an interview with Reuters on Thursday that he wanted Seoul
to pay for the THAAD deployment perplexed South Koreans and raised
questions about his commitment to the two countries' alliance.
South Korean officials responded that the cost was for Washington to bear, under the bilateral agreement.
"National
Security Adviser H.R. McMaster explained that the recent statements by
President Trump were made in a general context, in line with the U.S.
public expectations on defence cost burden-sharing with allies," South
Korea's Blue House said in a statement, adding that McMaster requested
the call.
Major
elements of the advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
system were moved into the planned site in Seonjgu, in the south of the
country, this week.
South
Korea and the United States say the sole purpose of THAAD is to guard
against North Korean missiles. China says its powerful radar can
penetrate its territory and undermine its security and spoke out against
it again this week.
The
United States is seeking more help from China, the North's major ally,
to rein in Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development. Trump, in the
Reuters interview, praised Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as a "good
man".
TENSIONS HIGH
The
North has been conducting missile and nuclear weapons related
activities at an unprecedented rate and is believed to have made
progress in developing intermediate-range and submarine-launched
missiles.
Tension
on the Korean peninsula has been high for weeks over fears the North
may conduct a long-range missile test, or its sixth nuclear test, around
the time of the April 15 anniversary of its state founder's birth.
In
excerpts of an interview with CBS News released on Saturday, Trump said
the United States and China would "not be happy" with a nuclear test
but gave no other details.
Trump
discussed the threat posed by North Korea in a telephone call with
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, the White House said.
On
Saturday, Duterte had urged the United States to show restraint after
North Korea's latest missile test and to avoid playing into the hands of
leader Kim Jong Un, who "wants to end the world".
Two-month long U.S.-South Korean joint military drills were due to conclude on Sunday, U.S. and South Korean officials said.
The exercise, called Foal Eagle, was repeatedly denounced by North Korea, which saw it as a rehearsal for war.
In
a further show of force, the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group
arrived in waters near the Korean peninsula and began exercises with the
South Korean navy late on Saturday. The South Korean navy declined to
say when the exercises would be completed.
The
dispatch of the Carl Vinson was a "reckless action of the war maniacs
aimed at an extremely dangerous nuclear war," the Rodong Sinmun, the
official newspaper of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, said.
Inter-continental
ballistic rockets will fly into the United States "if the U.S. shows
any slight sign of provocation," the paper said in a commentary on
Saturday.
The carrier group has just completed drills with the Japanese navy.
Japanese
Defence Minister Tomomi Inada, in an apparent show of solidarity with
Washington, has ordered the Izumo, Japan's biggest warship, to protect a
U.S. navy ship that might be going to help supply the USS Carl Vinson,
the Asahi newspaper said.
(Reporting
by Ju-min Park, James Pearson, additional reporting by Yuna Kim in
SEOUL, Nobuhiro Kubo and Linda Sieg in TOKYO; Editing by Lincoln Feast
and Clarence Fernandez)
