China warns citizens over travel to South Korea

But the editorial also called for South Korea to take forward-looking measures, noting that the “door to dialogue is not closed” and that “the ball is in South Korea’s court”.

However, till now, there is no direct evidence that the Chinese government is actively supporting North Korea’s sanctions busters.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement it was checking the media reports on a Chinese ban to sell travel programs. The author said nothing is better off in terms of THAAD in his country.

“China will perceive South Korea accepting the THAAD system as a hostile act against China, its going to undermine South Koreas relationship with China”, she said, “Also, should there be a military confrontation between China and the US, Chinas first target for a nuclear strike would be the THAAD system”. While the ruling party is still in favor of the missile defense system, the opposition Democratic Party, which tops the polls, has advocated postponing the implementation until after the next election, or even putting it off altogether, if a compromise needs to be found with China. The hurried push for THAAD was aimed to politicize security issues in the run-up to a possible early presidential vote. One of its affiliates on Monday approved a land swap to allow the missile system to be deployed outside Seoul, sparking threats of retaliation against Lotte Group in Chinese state-run media. -South Korea alliance, adding that the principle of installing the THAAD battery by the end of this year will be maintained. The deployment date was moved forward as the scandal-hit president is forecast to be permanently removed from office on or before March 13. But I think there is no clear answer as to the reason (for the attack).

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (center right) walks with South Korean Defense Minister Han Min Koo (center left) to meet Korean War veterans at the National Cemetery in Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 3, 2017.

Duty-free shops, which rely on Chinese tourists with deep pockets for 70% of their business, would be affected by the freeze on tourism to South Korea. “Maybe the Chinese will be the worst affected”.

Tillerson last month urged China to do all it could to moderate North Korea’s destabilizing behavior after its latest in a series of ballistic missile tests.

THAAD, which is created to shoot down short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles, could help Taiwan become a country that enemies “would not dare to carelessly attack”, according to local media. THAAD deployment in South Korea is exclusively to protect the country from the North Korean nuclear threat but China’s intimidation is trampling on the pride of South Koreans beyond intervention in domestic affairs. “This travel ban on South Korea has never been an official policy, and travel agencies represent an unofficial diplomatic response [to THAAD]”.

Notably, Wang said China hopes all parties will “put forth new efforts toward achieving the goals of denuclearizing the [Korean] peninsula and constructing a peace mechanism for the peninsula”.