By Jun Ji-hye
U.S. politicians are going all out to ensure that a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system scheduled to be deployed on Korean soil next year will pose no health risks or environmental problems.
Their emphasis on the safety of the system comes as a part of efforts to dispel concerns widespread in South Korea in the wake of a joint decision by the two countries to place a THAAD battery in Seongju County in North Gyeongsang Provice.
Local residents and their supporters are strongly protesting, claiming that the electromagnetic waves emitted from the AN/TPY-2 radar could be dangerous to humans and agricultural products.
Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) said Wednesday that he would like a THAAD missile defense battery “in his backyard” as the system provides excellent protection for his children from oncoming nuclear missiles while posing no danger to humans and the environment.
He made the remark in a meeting with South Korean reporters in Cleveland.
“I would want THAAD outside in our backyard if we could get the military to put one there, because I believe it will be a protection to my children and no danger to them. I guess that’s the best way I can explain to you why I think it’s a good thing,” Franks said.
“I literally would have great confidence that the system would not harm my children if it were in our backyard, yet I believe it would have great protection for them that we would be the last ones in the neighborhood to get hit with a nuclear warhead.”
The lawmaker also said that any claims THAAD is dangerous to humans are politically oriented.
“The notion that the levels of radiation would be damaging to human life is preposterous. It’s simply not true. It is a political claim more than it is a scientific claim,” he said. “THAAD has been a thoroughly tested system and it has been extremely effective.”
He also stressed the THAAD’s capability of shooting ballistic missiles down, saying that each THAAD system has a 99 percent chance of interception.
“It is an extremely high chance of interception,” he said.
A day earlier, Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam) also said during a meeting with South Korean reporters in Guam that the system will pose no environmental problems whatsoever if it is set up away from heavily populated areas as in Guam.
The meeting took place during a three-day tour by the South Korean journalists to the Andersen Air Force Base in the U.S. Pacific territory that has hosted a THAAD battery since 2013.
The THAAD unit there, nicknamed “Musudan manglers,” was set up in response to the growing threats from North Korea’s Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles, with an estimated range of about 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers, which could theoretically fly as far as Guam.
She said that there have never been any noise complaints from local residents about the advanced anti-missile defense system since its deployment.
She also said the local residents welcomed the deployment of the battery as they were worried about constant threats from the North Korean missiles, noting that they believe that the THAAD protects them and their island.
She added as long as the battery is placed in an isolated area and not in the middle of a town, there should be no problem.
South Korean journalists toured the base to check electromagnetic waves with Korea’s own devices as the radar in Guam is the same model as the one to be deployed in Seongju, located about 210 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
The result showed that the average level was 0.0003 watts per square meter, which was much lower than the permissible level of electromagnetic waves on daily life set by the Korea Communications Commission, which is 10 watts per square meter.
But the anger from the Seongju residents is showing no sign of subsiding so far.
Around 2,000 residents gathered in Seoul, Thursday, and staged a massive rally against the planned deployment.
On July 8, the two allies announced the decision to deploy the battery on Korean soil after months of deliberation, saying that it will greatly help the nation’s capability of responding to the North’s evolving nuclear and ballistic missile threats. Then on July 13, they announced Seongju as the location for the unit.