In response to the THAAD deployment, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Monday at a regular news briefing that "China expresses firm opposition and strong dissatisfaction."

The THAAD deployment seriously undermines regional strategic balance and the strategic security interests of regional countries including China, and is not favorable to safeguarding peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, said Geng.

China will take necessary measures to safeguard its security interests, and the US and South Korea will have to bear all the resulting consequences, he said.

The deployment may not be totally responsible for Lotte, but the conglomerate may have to take a large portion of responsibility as the land swap deal was announced amid suspicions over Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin for corruption.

An arrest warrant for Shin was rejected in late September, just before the announcement to alter the THAAD site into the Lotte property. Shin was accused of embezzlement and breach of trust worth hundreds of millions of US dollars.

Lotte also regained its duty free shop license in December despite its alleged involvement in a corruption scandal that led to President Park Geun-hye's impeachment. The retail giant is suspected of donating millions of dollars to nonprofit foundations controlled by Choi Soon-sil, Park's longtime confidante who is at the center of the scandal.