New THAAD site still faces high hurdles
By Jun Ji-hye
The government made it official Friday that a country club owned by Lotte Group in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province, will be an alternate site for the deployment of a controversial U.S. anti-missile battery.
The decision came about 80 days after the Ministry of National Defense announced in July that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery will be deployed at the South Korean Air Force’s air defense base in Seongsan-ri in the county by the end of next year.
The reversal of the initial decision is expected to resolve protests from Seongju residents over concerns about detrimental health and environmental effects from electromagnetic waves emitted by the AN/TPY-2 radar ― they had said the Seongsan artillery unit was too close to residential areas.
But at the same time, the decision is causing fresh protests from residents living in Gimcheon as the city is close to Lotte Skyhill Country Club.
The ministry is also expected to face protests from religious groups as a sacred site for Won Buddhism is located 500 meters from the club. Besides protests, the ministry also needs to negotiate with Lotte Group to purchase the land.
Ministry officials visited Seongju County earlier in the day to brief Kim Hang-gon, the governor of the county, and Bae Jae-man, the head of the county council, on the decision to deploy the THAAD battery to the golf club located on Mt. Dalma in the Chojeon Township of the county.
“The ministry said its evaluation showed that Mt. Dalma was the optimal location for THAAD compared to two other candidates, Mt. Yeomsok and Mt. Kkachi,” Bae told reporters.
Vice Defense Minister Hwang In-moo also met with North Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kwan-yong and explained the ministry’s decision.
The ministry, however, refused to make an official announcement about the decision at the ministry headquarters in Seoul despite a barrage of requests from journalists, apparently wary of potential controversy and protests that could be caused later. It just said its briefing to the county and the province amounted to its official announcement.
Residents of Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, protest the government’s decision to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery at the Lotte Skyhill Country Club during a press conference at its city hall, Friday. The golf course is located near Gimcheon. / Yonhap
When asked about why the ministry refused to make an official announcement publicly, an official said it had to consider the “feelings” of the residents.
In July, the ministry announced that the Seongsan artillery unit as the location for THAAD after months of deliberations, but the announcement immediately caused severe protests from local residents who said the decision was made without consulting them. Seoul and Washington had to review a new site in response to such protests.
The two nations began evaluations of the three alternative candidate sites at the end of last month.
According to data submitted to the National Assembly, the ministry concluded that Mt. Yeomsok in Geumsu Township and Mt. Kkachi in Suryun Township were unsuitable as construction to remove the mountain peaks and build other infrastructure would be required there, meaning that deploying the system by next year would be almost impossible.
On the other hand, the infrastructure and accessibility of the golf course is better than other mountains, because a road from the town to the golf course has already been built.
Officials said the ministry will begin to work to acquire the land of the golf club. Lotte Group possesses the 960,000 square-meter 18-hole golf course and the 820,000 square-meter adjacent forest there. The group purchased the 820,000 square-meter forest land earlier to construct nine additional holes.
If the group agrees to sell the land, the ministry is expected to pay about 100 billion won for it. Opposition lawmakers point out that the use of the state budget is subject to approval by the National Assembly. Once the issue is brought up in the Assembly, nobody can be sure how long it will take for lawmakers to complete deliberations, given that opposition parties have been expressing their disagreement with the deployment.
Mindful of this, the ministry is reportedly considering an exchange of land with the golf club giving it an equivalent area from military holdings.
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. From the ministry’s point of view, those conditions were apparently better to ease the residents’ concerns over the safety of the radar.