Ruling, opposition parties collide over THAAD system

Geng, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, also repeated China’s opposition to the deployment in South Korea of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system.

Lotte has been under fire since it handed over a plot to the government to be used as the site for the THAAD deployment.

Cho said Thursday that Seoul had no plans to push back the date, despite criticism from Beijing and calls by state media for retaliation against South Korean firms such as Lotte.

South Korean officials have said THAAD is a purely defensive measure against North Korean threats and does not target any other country.

But China says the system, with its long-range radar, is a threat to China’s own security and will do nothing to help resolve tensions with North Korea.

Pinkston said his contacts in the South Korean government have expressed both concern and bewilderment at the stance being adopted by China – which has made it clear in the past that it would not rush to South Korea’s assistance if the nation was ever threatened. He said China valued economic cooperation with South Korea and would respect the rights of South Korean companies, but that their operations should be in compliance with the law. Ties between South Korea and China have been strained, as the missile defense networking between South Korea, the United States and Japan could usher in an era of New Cold War in Northeast Asia.

The report came after media reports of Beijing tour operators being ordered to stop selling trips to South Korea prompted fears that China was retaliating against the deployment of the US missile defense system to South Korea. Developed by the United States, THAAD would provide missile defense to USA forces stationed in South Korea and protect against North Korean attacks.

“We don’t now have any tour groups going to South Korea”, an employee who answered the phone at one of the Beijing-based travel agents contacted by RFA confirmed, echoing the responses of the others. China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since its first entry into the Chinese market in 1994, the Lotte Group has invested 60 billion yuan but it did not pay off as it expected.

So far, China’s government has refrained from taking any public retaliatory steps against South Korea.

At least one Chinese travel company, Tuniu, has already stopped sales of South Korean trips with immediate effect. This is seen as another blatant move in protest against Seoul’s decision to deploy an advanced US anti-missile defense system on the peninsula.

The Lotte conglomerate operates 99 big discount chain stores, 13 small supermarkets and five department stores in China. Lotte is fixing those lapses before applying for a permission to resume construction. Sun Jiwen, a spokesman at the Ministry of Commerce, said on Thursday that China opposed the deployment of THAAD. The duty free store operator said it took more than six hours to recover. Thought to be a response to Korea’s planned deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, the measure could inflict severe financial damage.