Gov't, Lotte to begin negotiations on THAAD site
By Jun Ji-hye
The military will begin negotiations with Lotte Group this week to acquire a group-owned golf course that was selected as the site for an advanced U.S. anti-missile battery, officials said Tuesday.
“We will contact Lotte Group, the owner of Lotte Skyhill Country Club, this week for negotiations,” an official from the Ministry of National Defense said on condition of anonymity.
On Friday, the ministry made it official that the golf club located in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province, will host the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.
South Korea and the United States originally planned to deploy the battery at an air defense unit in Seongsan-ri in the county by the end of next year. But they reversed the decision due to protests from Seongju residents over concerns about 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.
Lotte Group possesses the 960,000 square-meter 18-hole golf course and the 820,000 square-meter adjacent forest there. The ministry plans to purchase all of the land, and if the group agrees to sell it, the ministry is expected to pay about 100 billion won ($90 million).
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, it is expected to take considerable time 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 in order to deploy the battery at the earliest possible date in the face of evolving threats from North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
“We need to first check whether Lotte Group wants money or other land,” the official said. “As of now, we are reviewing all possibilities.”
For its part, the golf club said in a statement, “We will look favorably on the government’s decision, considering the serious situation of national security.”
The 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.
Meanwhile, the ministry is facing criticism that it is pushing forward with procedures to deploy THAAD at the golf club despite protests from residents living in Gimcheon.
The ministry’s reversal of the initial decision has considerably resolved protests from Seongju residents, but is causing fresh protests from Gimcheon as the city is close to the golf club, though it administratively belongs to Seongju County.
Gimcheon Mayor Park Bo-saeng has been staging a hunger strike and refusing the ministry officials’ request to meet.
Critics said the ministry should have consulted with Gimcheon residents about the deployment and persuaded them before beginning negotiations with Lotte.
In response to such criticism, ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said, “The ministry is continuing efforts to persuade Gimcheon residents.”
He added that the ministry will carry out an environmental effects evaluation if there is a demand from the residents.