(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) TOKYO, July 11 (KUNA) -- South Korea on Monday hit back at the North Korea''s threat earlier in the day over recent decision by Seoul and Washington to deploy an advanced US missile-defense system in South Korea, local media reported.
"North Korea needs to clearly see who is responsible for putting the Korean Peninsula''s peace and security at risk before criticizing the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) deployment decision," South Korean National Defense Ministry Spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said in a briefing in Seoul, according to Yonhap News Agency.
"If North Korea continues its groundless claims and rash actions in defiance of our warnings, it will have to face our military''s stringent retaliation," Moon noted. His remarks come immediately after Pyongyang vowed to take "physical" actions against South Korea and the US over the allies'' decision.
North''s military issued a strong warning that it will deliver military strikes from the moment the two countries decide on where to place the THAAD system in South Korea, according to state-run Korean Central News Agency.
"We once again warn the enemies that it is the steadfast will of the Korean People''s Army to make merciless retaliatory strikes to reduce South Korea to a sea of flames and debris once an order is issued," the military''s artillery bureau was quoted as saying. It marked North''s first reaction to the allies'' decision reached on Friday to set up the system in South Korea, where about 28,500 American troops are stationed.
The South is expected to announce the site for the deployment within a few weeks, Yonhap said, adding the deployment is aimed at countering the North''s evolving missile threats amid concerns about the technical progress of North Korea''s nuclear and missile programs.
China and Russia have explicitly expressed opposition against the THAAD deployment in South Korea on concerns that the move could hurt their strategic security interests. Beijing claims that the system can be used against it on concerns that the powerful X-band radar that comes with THAAD could spy on China''s military. Washington said that THAAD is a purely defensive system aimed only at North Korea''s evolving threats. (end) mk.tg