China has raised strong objection to the United States deployment of an advanced high-altitude missile defense system to South Korea.  

China's foreign ministry on Friday expressed "strong discontent" and "firm opposition" to the deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) to South Korea.

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Beijing issued a stern warning to both countries and said that the deployment would seriously impair China's strategic interests in the region.

"The deployment doesn't help achieve the objective of denuclearization in the peninsula, doesn't benefit maintaining peace and stability in the peninsula," the ministry said in a statement. "It's going toward the opposite direction of solving the problem via dialogue and negotiation," China's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The statement by China's foreign ministry was released after Washington and Seoul announced the deployment of THAAD to Korea to counter threats from North Korea.                                                                  

The United States and South Korea, in a joint statement, said that the system would enhance the missile defense posture of the alliance in response to North Korean threats. It further stated that the THAAD deployment would enhance alliance's existing capabilities against DPRK' missile threats.

Both countries, however, made it clear that the system would only target potential attacks from DPRK. "When the THAAD system is deployed to the Korean Peninsula, it will be focused solely on North Korean nuclear and missile threats and would not be directed toward any third party nations," the statement said. 

Tagschina, US, South Korea, North Korea, missile defense system, THAAD