China urges citizens in N. Korea to return home

[HAPPY2BME]

The Chinese Embassy in North Korea has advised Korean-Chinese residents to return home amid concern that the North's military provocations may trigger a U.S. attack on the North, according to a source.

The embassy began sending the message on Apr. 20, five days before the North celebrated the 85th anniversary of the Korean People's Army with a show of military power, Radio Free Asia said Tuesday.

The U.S.-based station specializes in North Korea.

The station cited a Korean-Chinese living in the North's capital, who said he left for China late last month after the embassy contacted him.

He said he has been visiting China every two to three months but, after being told he should "stay in China for a while," left North Korea a month early.

"The embassy has never given such a warning. I was worried and left the country in a hurry," said the man, whose name was withheld.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/05/103_228651.html

[HAPPY2BME]

THAAD billing to strain ROK-US alliance

 U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster's remarks supportive of President Donald Trump's call for South Korea to pay for a U.S. missile shield reaffirmed that Washington wants to renegotiate the terms of the agreement despite Seoul's denial.

Analysts say the Trump administration's inconsistency will harm the Korea-U.S. alliance and cause stronger public opposition to the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here.

 Controversy regarding the THAAD costs was ignited after President Trump abruptly said last week that Seoul should pay for the deployment that he estimated at about $1 billion — remarks squarely against the allies' previous agreement calling for Seoul to provide the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) with the site for the battery and other infrastructure, and for the U.S. to shoulder the cost of deployment and operation.

McMaster said that Trump is seeking to "have appropriate burden-sharing, responsibility-sharing" with American allies including South Korea and NATO.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/05/205_228619.html