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Wed, January 27, 2021 | 22:38
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Seongju confirmed as site for THAAD
전자파 건강에 영향 없나…軍 "성주읍 전자파에 안전"
Posted : 2016-07-13 17:48
Updated : 2016-07-19 17:21
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Angry residents of Seongju County in North Gyeongsang Province try to enter the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan, Seoul, Wednesday, demanding a meeting with Defense Minister Han Min-koo over the ministry's selection of the county as the location for a THAAD anti-missile battery. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Angry residents of Seongju County in North Gyeongsang Province try to enter the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan, Seoul, Wednesday, demanding a meeting with Defense Minister Han Min-koo over the ministry's selection of the county as the location for a THAAD anti-missile battery. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Seoul remains vulnerable to North Korean missiles


By Kang Seung-woo

Angry residents of Seongju County in North Gyeongsang Province try to enter the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan, Seoul, Wednesday, demanding a meeting with Defense Minister Han Min-koo over the ministry's selection of the county as the location for a THAAD anti-missile battery. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Yoo Jeh-seung, deputy minister for policy at the Ministry of National Defense, announces that Seongju County in North Gyeongsang Province has been selected as the location for a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery, Wednesday.
/ Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
South Korea and the United States announced Wednesday that they will deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province.

However, the missile shield will leave Seoul and its surrounding areas vulnerable to North Korean missiles because its maximum intercept range is about 200 kilometers. Seongju is located some 210 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

Because of this, some analysts are raising questions about the necessity of having the system on South Korean soil — some even claim that the main mission of the battery is to protect U.S. military bases here.

Announcing the location, the South Korean military said the THAAD battery will be operational from late next year.

The military said it will deploy more ground-to-air missiles near Seoul to defend the capital from North Korean missiles.

It remains to be seen if North Korea will make any military provocations against the South and the United States, as it threatened Monday to make "merciless" retaliatory strikes against them from the moment the location for THAAD was selected.

If THAAD is deployed in the county, the system will not be capable of defending Seoul and its surrounding areas, which are the most populous in the nation, from North Korea's missile threats.

This is a sharp contrast to the government's repeated assurance that THAAD will protect the security of South Korea and its people from Pyongyang's growing threats. In addition, the ROK-U.S. joint statement issued on Friday — when they announced the agreement to deploy THAAD — also confirmed that the THAAD deployment was a defensive measure to ensure the security of the ROK and its people and to protect the alliance's military forces from North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile threats.

According to the military, the THAAD battery to be deployed in Seongju County will be funded by the United States, so its main mission here is to protect American troops and their bases rather than Seoul and its surrounding areas.

If deployed in Seongju County, the system can protect key U.S. facilities in Pyeongtaek, Geyonggi Province; Daegu; and Gunsan, North Jeolla Province.

Pyeongtaek will be home to the new headquarters for the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), while the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, the logistics provider of the USFK, is stationed in Daegu. The U.S. Air Force has a large presence in Gunsan, 274km southwest of the capital. It is also believed to shield South Korea's Gyeryongdae military headquarters in South Chungcheong Province.

"The primary goal of deploying THAAD here is to protect U.S. troops and its equipment. In that respect, do we need to compromise our diplomatic relations with Beijing, who bought 26 percent of all Korean exports last year by allowing the THAAD deployment?"said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior fellow at the Sejong Institute.

Since the official statement to deploy THAAD on Friday, China has strongly expressed its displeasure with the decision, urging the South Korean government to scrap the plan. As a result, there are escalating concerns that the country may press the South by way of economic retaliation. China is South Korea's largest trading partner.

In response to THAAD's limited coverage, the defense ministry said it plans to beef up the air defense system in Seoul and its surrounding areas with Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC)-3 low-altitude missiles against the North's ballistic missiles.

South Korea is speeding up the development of the indigenous Korea Air and Missile Defense system and under the plan, the military plans to upgrade its PAC-2 missiles to PAC-3 starting this year and complete the move by 2020.

There is also speculation that South Korea may consider purchasing its own THAAD system or allow the USFK to bring another THAAD battery here if North Korea's missile threats grow — although the defense ministry says there is no plan to additionally acquire it yet.


전자파 건강에 영향 없나…軍 "성주읍 전자파에 안전"

레이더 전방 100m까지는 인원통제…'국내법·국제기준 충족'

미국의 고고도 미사일방어체계(THAAD·사드) 배치를 앞두고 사격통제레이더가 내뿜는 강한 전자파가 인체에 유해한지 논란이 일고 있다.

배치지역으로 확정된 경북 성주뿐 아니라 후보지로 거론됐던 지역마다 사드 포대에 배치될 X밴드 레이더가 뿜어내는 전자파가 인체에 악영향을 줄 수 있다는 우려로 강력히 반대해왔다.

한미 군 당국이 군사적 유용성과 함께 환경과 건강, 안전 보장을 부지 선정의 원칙으로 제시한 것도 이런 점을 고려한 것이다.

사드 포대에는 북한의 미사일을 탐지·추적하고 요격미사일을 유도하기 위한 TPY-2(TM·종말단계) 레이더가 배치된다. 원거리 탐지능력을 보유한 X밴드 레이더로 탄두식별 능력이 뛰어난 것으로 알려졌다.

그러나 이 레이더가 내뿜는 강력한 전자파를 가까이서 쐬면 건강에 치명적인 위험을 유발할 수 있는 것으로 전해졌다.

이에 따라 사드 포대를 운용할 시 엄격한 안전기준이 적용된다.

레이더에서 전방 100m까지는 모든 인원이 통제되는 구역으로 안전펜스가 설치된다. 또 전방 3.6㎞까지는 '비통제인원 출입제한' 구역이다.

이는 이 구역 내에 있는 건물이나 타워 등이 레이더 최저 탐지고각(5도) 이상의 높이에 해당할 때 적용되는 것으로, 3.6㎞로 가정할 때 건물 높이가 315m 이상이어야 한다. 63빌딩의 높이가 249m인 점을 고려하면 이 기준에 해당하는 건물은 주변에 없다는 게 국방부의 설명이다.

류제승 국방부 국방정책실장은 '사드배치 지역부터 성주읍까지 거리가 대략 1.5㎞로, 전자파에 안전하다'고 설명했다.

항공기의 비행도 제한된다. 전방 2.4㎞까지는 제한공역으로 설정돼 레이더 가동 시에는 일반 항공기가 비행할 수 없으며, 5.5㎞까지는 폭발물을 탑재한 항공기는 들어올 수 없다.

국방부는 지난 8일 배포한 설명자료에서 '사드 레이더는 기지 울타리로부터 최소 500m 들어간 안쪽에 위치하기 때문에 기지 외부의 주민들에게는 영향을 미치지 않는다'고 밝혔다.

한민구 국방부 장관은 지난 11일 국회 국방위원회 전체회의에서 사드의 전자파 유해성 논란과 관련해 '사드에서 요구하는 안전거리가 가장 짧다'면서 안전하다고 밝혔다.

한 장관은 군의 기존 레이더에 대해 '지금 사용하는 것들의 출력이 사드보다 센 것도 있고 약한 것도 있다'고 말하고, '기존 군 레이더에서 나오는 전자파로 인해 우리 국민의 건강이 위협받거나 환경이 파괴된 기록이 있었느냐'는 질문에 대해서도 '없었다'고 답변했다.

군은 레이더와 요격미사일 발사대의 최소 이격거리가 500m이기 때문에 레이더에서 최소 500m 밖에 기지의 울타리가 설치될 것이라고 설명했다.

국방부 관계자는 '사드 레이더 안전거리 밖의 전자파 세기는 국내법과 세계보건기구의 안전기준을 충족한다'고 강조했다.

한미 군 당국은 또한 사드 레이더를 먼 거리 탐지를 위해 장애물이 없는 상대적으로 높은 지형에 배치하고 지상에서 5도 이상 위쪽으로 운용할 계획이다.

이렇게 되면 배치된 곳 기준으로 2.4㎞ 전방에서는 고도 210m까지, 5.5㎞ 전방에서는 고도 483m까지는 전자파가 영향을 미치지 않아 지상에서 활동하는 주민들이 전자파의 영향권에 들어가지는 않을 것이라는 게 국방부의 설명이다.

그렇지만 이런 국방부의 설명에도 전자파의 위해성이 완전히 검증되지 않았고 운용상 실수 등이 있을 수 있는 것 아니냐는 후보지 주민들의 불안감을 완전히 불식시키기는 쉽지 않아 보인다. (연합뉴스)
Emailksw@ktimes.com Article ListMore articles by this reporter
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