SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's opposition party chiefs on Monday expressed objections to the deployment of a U.S. missile shield in their homeland, calling for dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in their rare meeting with President Park Geun-hye.
Park met with the leaders of three major political parties for about two hours in the presidential office to discuss how to address the DPRK's fifth nuclear test, according to Park's office.
The meeting was attended by ruling Saenuri Party chairman Lee Jung-hyun, main opposition Minjoo Party chairwoman Choo Mi-ae and interim head of the minor opposition People's Party Park Jie-won as well as top presidential security advisor Kim Kwan-jin and ministers of foreign affairs and unification.
Asked directly by Park about whether to favor the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korea, the People's Party chief expressed his clear objection to the THAAD deployment on the South Korean soil, he told reporters after the meeting with the president.
The Minjoo party chairwoman said the THAAD issue is not of military nature but of diplomatic one, telling the president that the U.S. missile defense system cannot protect South Korea from the DPRK's nuclear threats from a military perspective.
The chairwoman said close relations with China, South Korea's largest trading partner, can help save people's livelihood economically, according to local media reports.
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