A recent decision by South Korea and the United States to place an advanced missile defense system on Korean soil is aimed at countering threats from North Korea, a government official said Thursday, saying that it's regrettable to see criticism by a Chinese state-run newspaper not based on objective facts.

In an editorial dated on Wednesday, People's Daily claimed that the planned deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system poses a serious threat to China's strategic security interest and that Beijing would not sit on its hands at such a development.

Unusually mentioning President Park Geun-hye by name, it also urged Seoul to give the issue serious thought. The newspaper's claim is in line with the Chinese government's repeated argument on the decision to deploy THAAD.

"It is regrettable to see People's Daily make such a unilateral argument that THAAD would hurt the strategic balance in the region and China's security interests," a government official said on condition of anonymity.

"Rather than taking an unreasonable issue with the THAAD deployment, it should send a strong warning message to the North bent on developing nuclear weapons and missiles in defiance of South Korea, China and the international community," he added.

On July 8, Seoul and Washington unveiled a plan to place a THAAD battery here by end-2017 in a bid to counter the mounting threats from the North.

Beijing and Russia have objected to the decision, saying that it could hurt their strategic defense interests, while South Korea has said that the anti-missile shield only targets the North and no other country. (Yonhap)