UPDATES WITH ADDITIONAL STATEMENT
By Alex Jensen
SEOUL (AA) – South Korea has moved its planned site for an American anti-missile system to prime land currently occupied by a country club and golf course, as Seoul’s defense ministry revealed its “final” choice Friday.
The South picked a location in rural Seongju County for the deployment back in July -- but the decision was met with strong protests by residents nearly 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Seoul.
While the government dismissed their environmental and health concerns as unfounded, it agreed to consider alternative options for the system known as THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense).
The chosen golf course is still close to Seongju but is nearly 700 meters above sea level and further from residents.
“We have conducted a simulation-based evaluation on three alternative sites in Seongju. The test results showed the Lotte Skyhill Country Club is the most optimal site for THAAD,” a defense ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by South Korean news agency Yonhap.
Still, the system has already created new protests among those living in neighboring Gimcheon, as they claim its powerful radar will be pointing in their direction.
Another potential hurdle could be buying the golf course, which is owned by Lotte Group and could cost in the vicinity of $100 million -- that budget will need parliamentary approval from a National Assembly dominated by opposition lawmakers in the wake of this year’s surprise general election result.
A further ministry statement made clear “the government is determined to finish the THAAD installation within the next year without fail to better protect the security of the country and life of its people from the evolving nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.”
The North has vowed to make THAAD a target as it continues to develop ballistic missiles, and China reiterated its opposition to the anti-missile system this week after the United States vowed to deploy a battery in the South “as soon as possible”.
Seoul and Washington have been strengthening their joint defensive posture since North Korea’s fifth ever nuclear test earlier this month.
The South’s President Park Geun-hye described the alliance Friday as the best way to deal with Pyongyang’s “fanaticism” -- she also likened the North Korean threat to “a dagger to our throats”.