North Korea has warned that the deployment of a US-made missile system in South Korea will turn the Korean Peninsula into a nuclear battlefield.The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) "is a source of a nuclear disaster being brought to our race at the moment," said a report in North’s state-run Korean Central TV on Wednesday.
The installation of THAAD began last month amid rising tensions over North Korea’s ballistic and nuclear tests. China and Russia have also criticized the deployment of THAAD, saying it would significantly affect the balance of power in the region and would lead to more instability. Washington and Seoul had agreed on the installation in the summer of 2016.
The US missile system is equipped with a powerful detection system known as an X-band radar, which experts say would destabilize regional security and upset the region’s current military balance.