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Meanwhile, Moon ordered an investigation into how the final components of a controversial U.S. missile shield had arrived in South Korea without his knowledge. The newly elected president initiated the probe after learning that a complete set of six launchers for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or Thaad, were on South Korean soil, Moon’s spokesman Yoon Young-chan told a news conference Tuesday.

Previous defense ministry statements — including a briefing given to the president last week — had confirmed the deployment of only two launchers. During his election campaign, Moon called for a review of Thaad and sought to gain the understanding of China, which opposes the deployment, citing security concerns.

North Korea weighed in on Thaad in a separate KCNA commentary, saying the “evil” system would be useless at intercepting missiles and only make South Koreans more vulnerable. Withdrawing the shield “brooks not a moment’s delay as its deployment would make South Korea the first target of strike by neighboring nuclear powers,” it said.

Japan said the missile launched by North Korea on Monday landed about 300 kilometres from the Oki Islands off the nation’s western coast. Kim may have deliberately fired it toward waters that are claimed by both Japan and South Korea to foment discord between the nations and undermine cooperation with the U.S., according to Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California.

Trump, who has sought more help from China to rein in its neighbor and ally, said on Twitter that “North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile…but China is trying hard!”

Beijing also expressed its opposition to the test. All sides should “ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula as soon as possible and bring the Peninsula issue back onto the right track of peaceful dialog,” China’s foreign ministry said.