Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
'Pyeongtaek top candidate for THAAD deployment'
By Jun Ji-hye
The United States is considering Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province as the most feasible site to station missiles for its anti-missile defense shield in South Korea, according to a defense ministry official Friday.
“If deployed, Pyeongtaek, which is scheduled to eventually become home to the American military’s Yongsan Garrison currently in central Seoul, and the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division (2ID) on the border, would be a top candidate as the region would be a hub of the U.S. Armed Forces,” said the official.
He added that the U.S. needs to protect its troops and their families from continuous threats from North Korea.
The move of most personnel from U.S. bases in and north of Seoul to Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of the capital, is slated for the end of 2016 in accordance with the Yongsan Relocation Plan (YRP) and the Land Partnership Plan (LPP), signed by the two allies in 2004.
A vernacular daily newspaper Donga Ilbo also reported, quoting an unidentified source from the Pentagon, that Pyeongtaek will likely be the home for a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense battery.
Deploying one unit is expected to cost some 2 trillion won ($1.98 billion).
“The allies will soon wrap up their discussion on the deployment. The two are expected to officially announce it through a meeting of foreign and defense chiefs in October,” the source was quoted as saying.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo will visit Washington in October to attend the annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), to be followed by a meeting of the allies’ foreign and defense chiefs.
However, the Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the report.
Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said, “We have asked the U.S. to confirm, and were told that it has yet to make a decisions regarding THAAD deployment.”
With regard to the likelihood that the deployment will be a top issue during the SCM, Kim said, “Details on the agenda have yet to be determined.”
The THAAD system, with a range of 150 kilometers, is regarded as an indispensable element of the U.S. missile defense system along with the SM-3, which can intercept missiles at an altitude of 400-500 kilometers.
Seoul has been clinging to the position that it will not join the Washington-led network. Referring to THAAD deployment, however, it has implied that it has no objections, saying the deployment would help deter North Korean nuclear or conventional missile attacks and enhance security on the peninsula.
The defense shield ostensibly targets North Korean ballistic missiles, but China and Russia claim that they are the real targets of any such U.S. system on the Korean Peninsula.
Speculation about the deployment abounds with reports that National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin plans to talk to China over its concerns about the deployment of the interceptors on Korean soil during his October visit to Beijing to meet with State Councilor Yang Jiechi.
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