New site selected to host controversial US missile shield

By Park Sae-jin Posted : September 30, 2016, 14:25 Updated : September 30, 2016, 14:25

Civic groups hold a news conference in the rain opposing the deployment of a US missile shield.[Yonhap News Photo]


South Korea's defense ministry selected a remote golf course Friday as the new site for an advanced US missile shield, reversing its earlier announcement that sparked a wave of protests and opposition at home and abroad.

The hillside golf course owned by Lotte Group is in an unpopulated area, 18 kilometers (11 miles) north of the seat of a country office in Seongju. On July 13, a military base near a rural town in Seongju, about 220 kilometers (130 miles) southeast of Seoul, was picked to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

The earlier decision has been scrapped, however, because of strong protests by residents in Seongju who argued their town would be the target of North Korean missile attacks. They also accused the THAAD battery of emitting strong electromagnetic waves, though military officials dismissed their argument as an excessive worry.

Along with health and environmental problems, the US missile shield sparked concern about China's economic retaliation. Opposition legislators believe the THAAD system could seriously hurt economic and diplomatic relations between Beijing and Seoul.

Seoul and Washington insisted the THAAD system would be used solely to intercept North Korean missiles. Beijing said it would "seriously" hurt strategic interests of China and other countries as well as the security balance in Northeast Asia. China has threatened to take retaliatory steps if a THAAD battery arrives in South Korea.

Some 28,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea under a mutual defense pact dating back to the 1950-53 Korean War. The two Koreas are still technically at war with no peace treaty signed.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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