China and Russia promise ‘countermeasures’ against a US-Korean missile defense system

China and Russia have expressed concern about a US plan to deploy an antimissile system in South Korea and vowed to take unspecified “countermeasures,” state media reported. The countermeasures “will be aimed at safeguarding interests of China and Russia and the strategic balance in the region,” China’s state news service Xinhua said on January 13. “China and Russia urged the United States and South Korea to address their security concerns and stop the deployment of [the antimissile system] on the Korean Peninsula,” Xinhua said.