iStock/Thinkstock(BEIJING) — In his first discussion with the new South Korean leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping asserted that he doesn’t want South Korea to deploy a U.S. missile system, according to the BBC.
The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which would intercept attacks from North Korea, became operational in South Korea last week. A spokesperson for the liberal leader Moon Jae-in said Xi, who initiated the call, “explained the reasons for Beijing’s strong and repeated opposition” to the deployment, Yonhap news agency reported.
Beijing has said the system would spy on its territory.
Moon, who was elected South Korean president on Tuesday, has made ambivalent comments about THAAD in the past, but during the call, both he and Xi agreed that denuclearising North Korea was a “common goal,” according to the BBC.
“President Moon said the THAAD issue can be resolved when there is no further provocation by North Korea,” spokesman Yoon Young-chan said.
Moon also raised the issue of economic retaliation against South Korean firms in China, Yoon said. The South Korean president is expected to send a delegation to Beijing to discuss both North Korea and THAAD.
The THAAD deployment was agreed upon by Moon’s predecessor, conservative leader Park Guen-hye. She is currently awaiting trial in prison on corruption charges.
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