RUSSIA & CHINA AGREE TO INTENSIFY OPPOSITION TO US MISSILE SYSTEM IN SOUTH KOREA

Moscow and Beijing have agreed to intensify their joint efforts to oppose the US missile system’s deployment in South Korea.

Photo: AFP

Beijing and Moscow have agreed to build up their coordinated efforts to oppose the planned deployment of the US anti-ballistic missile system in South Korea, as they believe that the move would harm the regional security, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced in a statement, released on Wednesday.

Last year, South Korea agreed to deploy the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) on its territory, explaining this with threats, posed by ballistic missiles of North Korea.

The move made China and Russia to concern about a possibility of further destabilisation of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, as well as about the fact that the THAAD might challenge their own security.

In January, the two countries agreed to take unspecified “countermeasures” in response to the THAAD’s deployment.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, the South Korean Defense Ministry, which describe the deployment as a purely defensive measure against “North Korean threats,” signed an agreement with the Lotte Group in order to acquire lands, located to southeast of Seoul, for the missile system’s deployment.

The agreement caused a strong criticism by Chinese state media, which urged to boycott South Korean products, exported to the country, such as cars and telephones, as well as Korean entertainment.

In addition, on Tuesday, Koreans from Seongju County and neighboring Gimcheon, located near the area, which was handed over to military, filed a lawsuit against the country’s Defense Ministry. The residents claim that some legally-required procedures, including prior agreement from local people and an environmental impact assessment, had been bypassed by the ministry.

As the South Korean authorities announced, they expect to see the US missile system, deployed in the country, by the end of the year.

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif

Search This Blog