By Jun Ji-hye
The Ministry of National Defense and Lotte Group have agreed on a land swap deal to enable the United States Forces of Korea to set up a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on a Lotte-owned golf course in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.
In exchange, Lotte will get military-owned land in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, the ministry said Wednesday.
The two sides will soon start evaluating the two sites, and a formal deal will be signed after the procedure.
The ministry hopes construction of related facilities for the anti-missile battery will start early next year.
Under the deal, the ministry plans to acquire the entire 1.48 square-kilometer plot of land in Seongju on which the Lotte Skyhill Country Club is located.
The ministry will give the conglomerate land of equal value in Namyangju.
On Sept. 30, the ministry said the THAAD battery will be stationed on the golf course by the end of next year to better deter evolving threats from North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. Since then, the ministry and the firm have conducted negotiations.
South Korea and the United States officially announced the THAAD deployment decision in July.
The golf site is priced at 45 billion won ($39 million) according to government real estate estimates, although the real book value is 85 billion won, according to the ministry.
The military owns 200,000 square-meters of land in Namyangju near Seoul, whose value is estimated at about 140 billion won. The land is scheduled to be vacated as military units there will be moved to other places next year in accordance with an existing relocation plan.
"An appraisal of the value of the two sites will take about a month-and-a-half," said Park Jae-min, director-general in charge of the ministry's military installation planning bureau. "In accordance with that result, the ministry will divide the military-owned land in Namyangju to give Lotte Group land which has equal value to the golf club."
He noted that the ministry had offered military grounds in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and Seocho District, southern Seoul, as well as in Namyangju as candidates for the land exchange, and the latter was accepted.
He added that the ministry is holding separate talks with the United States on details of the construction of the THAAD site, noting that the land will be offered to U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) following the swap deal under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between Seoul and Washington.
"We will make sure that all the construction work will be finished in time to help install a THAAD battery within next year," Park said, apparently mindful of growing concerns that the deployment decision could be derailed following the massive political scandal surrounding President Geun-hye and her longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil.
In a seminar held early this month, USFK Commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks also stressed that the deployment will come in the next eight to 10 months.
Seoul and Washington originally planned to deploy the battery at an air defense unit in Seongsan-ri in Seongju County, but they reversed the decision due to protests from residents there over concerns of detrimental health and environmental effects from electromagnetic waves emitted by the AN/TPY-2 radar. Residents had said the missile unit was too close to residential areas.
The golf club is located at an altitude of 680 meters above sea level, which is higher than the Seongsan air defense base, located at an altitude of 380 meters. The club is also 18 kilometers away from any residential areas in Seongju.
The Ministry of National Defense and Lotte Group have agreed on a land swap deal to enable the United States Forces of Korea to set up a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on a Lotte-owned golf course in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.
In exchange, Lotte will get military-owned land in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, the ministry said Wednesday.
The two sides will soon start evaluating the two sites, and a formal deal will be signed after the procedure.
The ministry hopes construction of related facilities for the anti-missile battery will start early next year.
Under the deal, the ministry plans to acquire the entire 1.48 square-kilometer plot of land in Seongju on which the Lotte Skyhill Country Club is located.
The ministry will give the conglomerate land of equal value in Namyangju.
On Sept. 30, the ministry said the THAAD battery will be stationed on the golf course by the end of next year to better deter evolving threats from North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. Since then, the ministry and the firm have conducted negotiations.
South Korea and the United States officially announced the THAAD deployment decision in July.
The golf site is priced at 45 billion won ($39 million) according to government real estate estimates, although the real book value is 85 billion won, according to the ministry.
The military owns 200,000 square-meters of land in Namyangju near Seoul, whose value is estimated at about 140 billion won. The land is scheduled to be vacated as military units there will be moved to other places next year in accordance with an existing relocation plan.
"An appraisal of the value of the two sites will take about a month-and-a-half," said Park Jae-min, director-general in charge of the ministry's military installation planning bureau. "In accordance with that result, the ministry will divide the military-owned land in Namyangju to give Lotte Group land which has equal value to the golf club."
He noted that the ministry had offered military grounds in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and Seocho District, southern Seoul, as well as in Namyangju as candidates for the land exchange, and the latter was accepted.
He added that the ministry is holding separate talks with the United States on details of the construction of the THAAD site, noting that the land will be offered to U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) following the swap deal under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between Seoul and Washington.
"We will make sure that all the construction work will be finished in time to help install a THAAD battery within next year," Park said, apparently mindful of growing concerns that the deployment decision could be derailed following the massive political scandal surrounding President Geun-hye and her longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil.
In a seminar held early this month, USFK Commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks also stressed that the deployment will come in the next eight to 10 months.
Seoul and Washington originally planned to deploy the battery at an air defense unit in Seongsan-ri in Seongju County, but they reversed the decision due to protests from residents there over concerns of detrimental health and environmental effects from electromagnetic waves emitted by the AN/TPY-2 radar. Residents had said the missile unit was too close to residential areas.
The golf club is located at an altitude of 680 meters above sea level, which is higher than the Seongsan air defense base, located at an altitude of 380 meters. The club is also 18 kilometers away from any residential areas in Seongju.
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