South Korea names new site for US defense system
Print Edition
SOUTH Korea formally announced a new location for deploying a highly-advanced US anti-missile defense system yesterday, after vocal protests from local residents over potential health and environmental hazards.
Seoul and Washington agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea after North Korea conducted a series of missile tests in the wake of its fourth nuclear test in January.
The decision was condemned by Pyongyang and also caused a damaging rift between South Korea and China, which sees the deployment as a US bid to flex its military muscle in the region and undermine China’s own missile capabilities.
There was strong domestic reaction in South Korea, particularly from people living near an existing missile base in the rural county of Seongju — 275 kilometers southeast of Seoul — where the first THAAD battery was to be installed.
Residents said the system’s powerful radar would pose health and environmental hazards and that its presence would make them a priority target for the North Korean military.
The defense ministry said the site would be shifted 18 kilometers to the north of the air base to a golf course owned by the Lotte Group retail chain.
The ministry said the new site was more isolated and on higher ground, but nearby residents have still been protesting since news of the venue switch was leaked weeks ago.
And followers of an indigenous school of Buddhism are also angered by the move, which would see the THAAD battery sited 3 kilometers from one of their most important shrines.
About 1,000 Won-Buddhism followers held an outdoor prayer session at the shrine on Wednesday in protest.
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