Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has condemned South Korea's decision to give the U.S. the green light to deploy its Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system to deal with possible attacks from North Korea, Reuters reported.

"The recent move by the South Korean side has harmed the foundation of mutual trust between the two countries," Wang said, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

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Wang met his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se on Sunday on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference of foreign ministers in Vientiane, Laos.   

Yun told Wang that the move is purely aimed at safeguarding South Korea's national security. He explained that it would not harm China's security interests.

South Korea and the US had been mulling the deployment of THAAD since North Korea conducted controversial nuclear and missile tests earlier this year. However, both countries took the final decision to deploy THAAD only earlier this month.

South Korea and the US have stated that the advanced missile defense system would be used only for self-defense, mainly to defend against North Korea's ballistic missiles. However, China fears that THAAD would also be used to track its military capabilities.

Russia has lent support to China over the issue of the THAAD deployment. Foreign ministers of both countries met earlier this year, with both communist countries forming a common stance on North Korea and other controversial issues.

The Chinese government has said that it wholeheartedly supports the international community's tough stance against North Korea, but peace talks and negotiation must not be ruled out to deal with Pyongyang.

Tagschina, China-North Korea relations, South Korea, THAAD, THAAD missile system