THAAD a key agenda of Korea-China summit

Vice foreign ministers of South Korea and China have discussed arrangements of their leaders' summit and Seoul's deployment of an advanced U.S. anti-missile system, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.

Lim Sung-nam, vice foreign minister left for China on Wednesday for a two-day visit to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenmin in the run-up to a summit of Group 20 to be held in Hangzhou next week.

Seoul's foreign ministry said that the two officials discussed overall issues including preparation of a summit between President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

"During Lim's visit to China, consultations were made over issues such as a summit preparation and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)," foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said in a regular briefing.

South Korea and China have been at odds over Seoul's latest decision to deploy a THAAD battery on its soil. China is voicing strong opposition, saying that the system's radar could spy on its territory, hurting Beijing's security interests. (Yonhap)