South Korea picks new site for THAAD missile defense system

South Korea picks new site for THAAD missile defense system

PanARMENIAN.Net - A private golf course in the country's southeast region was chosen as the new site for an advanced U.S. missile defense system to be deployed by the end of next year to help cope with North Korean threats, South Korean military officials said Friday, September 30, the Associated Press reports.

Seoul's Defense Ministry in July originally picked a nearby artillery base in the rural farming town of Seongju as the site for Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD.

But Seongju residents fiercely protested the plan, raising fears over potential health hazards they believe the system's powerful radar might cause.

The golf course owned by South Korea's Lotte business group is also within Seongju, but located farther from the town's main residential areas. However, residents of Gimcheon city, which borders the course, have protested the move that had been speculated by the media for weeks.

An official from the Defense Ministry, who didn't want to be named, citing office rules, said ministry officials visited lawmakers and regional officials in Seongju and North Gyeongsang Province, which governs the town, to explain the decision. A ministry note provided to lawmakers described the golf course as ideal because it would require less construction than two other possible sites that were on mountains.

The ministry plans to start talking about buying the course from Lotte, which said in a statement that it will "positively consider" the proposal.

Ministry officials began exploring alternative sites after South Korean President Park Geun-hye in August promised to consider a new location to "lessen the anxiety" of residents in Seongju. This was weeks after angry protesters pelted her prime minister with eggs and plastic bottles and blocked his bus for several hours during a visit to Seongju to explain the decision to residents.

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