Chinese tours to S.Korea halted in missile row: agencies

China is tapping into that popularity in an attempt to hurt South Korea economically.

In Seoul, he plans to hold talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se about how to deal with North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats as well as the recent killing of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Malaysia, the report said.

Washington and Seoul have maintained that they will go ahead with the deployment, which is scheduled to take place sometime next year. In January, however, Chinese aviation authorities rejected eight charter flights from Korea bound for mainland China without offering specific reasons, though it’s widely believed to be retaliation against the antimissile system, according to the Korea Times.

The Chinese government, which is upset about South Korea’s decision to host the THAAD missile defense system, denied any knowledge of such an order.

“The Chinese government is likely to continue applying economic coercion and diplomatic pressure in efforts to influence South Korean domestic politics and reverse the decision”, says Leif-Eric Easley, assistant professor of global studies at Ewha University in Seoul. He added the government would come up with policies to contain the damage, without elaborating.

The administration did not comment on any travel ban. Trump has complained Beijing was not doing enough to press Pyongyang to rein in its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Lotte has already suffered business setbacks and faces mounting boycott threats over the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement it was checking the media reports on a Chinese ban to sell travel programs. Trump sought to get along with Beijing on February 9 in a call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Moon, who enjoys a mid-30 percent range approval rating and is leading South Chungcheong Governor An Hee-jung by nearly 20 percent, has said that the Thaad issue should be dealt by the incoming administration.

Governor An maintains that the deployment decision should not be changed because it involves a bilateral agreement with Washington.

Lotte, the South Korean conglomerate that agreed to free up land for THAAD – which has retail 150 branches in China – has been under what has been construed as legal pressure, subjected to frequent health inspections, and denials of construction permits. The official added that the embassy has chose to establish a contact system that connects them to South Korean residents and business firms in China.

The CEO of Chinese retailer Jumei.com posted on his official microblog that his firm would no longer sell Lotte products.

China is also South Korea’s biggest trading partner, accounting for about a quarter of its exports. The number of posts mentioning Lotte’s Chinese name spiked to almost 300,000 on Thursday from a normal level of a few thousand.

During the Beijing leg of the Asia trip, Tillerson plans to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and possibly also with President Xi Jinping, Kyodo News said, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources.

The Chinese men have identified themselves as part of the Communist Youth League of China.