US adds launchers to THAAD as dozens hurt in S. Korea protests

SEOUL, South Korea — Dozens of people are injured in clashes between South Korean protesters and police Thursday as the US military adds more launchers to the high-tech missile-defense system it installed in a southern town to better cope with North Korean threats.

Seoul has hardened its stance against Pyongyang after its torrent of weapons tests, the latest a detonation Sunday of what North Korea said was a thermonuclear weapon built for missiles capable of reaching the US mainland.

The clashes come as South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meet in Russia’s Far East and repeat their calls for stronger punishment of North Korea over its nuclear ambitions, including denying the country oil supplies. The demand contradicts the stance of their host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has dismissed sanctions as a solution.

Putin says he believes US President Donald Trump’s administration is willing to defuse tensions over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

— AP