China called the deployment of THAAD a "wrong move" and urged the Republic of Korea to halt its deployment before the country "ends up hurting itself and others," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday.

Wang made the comment at a news conference during the two sessions, adding that the stubborn deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) by the US and ROK is now the biggest issue affecting China-ROK relations.

"It is common knowledge that the monitoring radius of THAAD reaches far beyond the Korean Peninsula and has undermined China’s strategic security," Wang said. "Deploying THAAD is a wrong move. This is not the way for neighbors to treat each other. It may very well make the ROK less secure."

China strongly advised the ROK to halt the deployment of THAAD and not stray any farther down the wrong path, "otherwise the ROK will only end up hurting themselves and others," Wang said.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the ROK, and "China treasures the outcomes that our two people have built together over the past years," Wang said. "The ROK should join China in preserving the mutual beneficial cooperation between the two sides."