Donald Trump\u2019s comments that he wanted Seoul to pay for the THAAD deployment perplexed South Koreans and raised questions about his commitment to the two countries\u2019 alliance<\/b>
\nSouth Korea said Washington had reaffirmed it would shoulder the cost of deploying the THAAD anti-missile system, days after US President Donald Trump said Seoul should pay for the $1-billion system designed to defend against nuclear-armed North Korea. In a telephone call on Sunday, Trump\u2019s national security adviser, H. R. McMaster, reassured his South Korean counterpart, Kim Kwan-jin, that the US alliance with South Korea was its top priority in the Asia-Pacific region, the South\u2019s presidential office said. The conversation followed another on Saturday which Washington and Seoul said was unsuccessful, but which drew widespread international condemnation. Trump, asked about his message to North Korea after the latest missile test, told reporters: \u201cYou\u2019 ll soon find out\u201d, but did not elaborate on what the US response would be. Trump\u2019s comments in an interview with Reuters on Thursday that he wanted perplexed South Koreans and raised questions about his commitment to the two countries\u2019 alliance. South Korean officials responded that the cost was for Washington to bear, under the bilateral agreement. \u201cNational Security Adviser H. R. McMaster explained that the recent statements by President Trump were made in a general context, in line with the US public expectations on defence cost burden-sharing with allies, \u201d South Korea\u2019s Blue House said in a statement, adding that McMaster requested the call. Major elements of the advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system were, in the south of the country, last week. South Korea and the United States say the sole purpose of THAAD is to guard against North Korean missiles. China says its powerful radar can penetrate its territory and undermine its security and spoke out against it again last week. The United States is seeking more help from China, the North\u2019s major ally, to rein in Pyongyang\u2019s nuclear and missile development. Trump, in the Reuters interview, praised Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as a \u201cgood man\u201d. The North has been conducting missile and nuclear weapons related activities at an unprecedented rate and is believed to have made progress in developing intermediate-range and submarine-launched missiles. Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high for weeks over fears the North may conduct a long-range missile test, or its sixth nuclear test, around the time of the April 15 anniversary of its state founder\u2019s birth. In excerpts of an interview with CBS News released on Saturday, Trump said the United States and China would \u201cnot be happy\u201d with a nuclear test but gave no other details. Trump discussed the threat posed by North Korea in a, the White House said. On Saturday, Duterte had urged the United States to show restraint after North Korea\u2019s latest missile test and to avoid playing into the hands of leader Kim Jong-un, who \u201cwants to end the world\u201d. Two-month long US-South Korean joint military drills were due to conclude on Sunday, U. S. and South Korean officials said. The exercise, called Foal Eagle, was repeatedly denounced by North Korea, which saw it as a rehearsal for war. In a further show of force, the aircraft carrier group arrived in waters near the Korean peninsula and began exercises with the South Korean navy late on Saturday. The South Korean navy declined to say when the exercises would be completed. The dispatch of the was a \u201creckless action of the war maniacs aimed at an extremely dangerous nuclear war, \u201d the, the official newspaper of North Korea\u2019s ruling Workers\u2019 Party, said. Intercontinental ballistic rockets will fly into the United States \u201cif the US shows any slight sign of provocation, \u201d the paper said in a commentary on Saturday. The carrier group has just completed drills with the Japanese navy. Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada, in an apparent show of solidarity with Washington, has ordered the, Japan\u2019s biggest warship, to protect a US navy ship that might be going to help supply the, the newspaper said.<\/p>\n