Clashes over defence moves by South Korea

Dozens of people have been injured in clashes between South Korean protesters and police as the US military added more launchers to the missiledefence system it installed in a southern town to handle North Korean threats.

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

The clashes came as South Korean president Moon Jae-in and Japanese prime minster Shinzo Abe met in Russia’s Far East and repeated their calls for stronger punishment of North Korea over its nuclear ambitions, including denying the country oil supplies.

The demand contradicted the stance of their host, Russian president Vladimir Putin, who has dismissed sanctions as a solution. Mr Putin said he believes US president Donald Trump’s administration is willing to defuse tensions over North Korea.