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Monks who are members of the Won Buddhism Countermeasure Committee to Withdraw THAAD and Protect Seongju stand in front of the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan District

South Korea’s Defense Ministry has apparently selected a Lotte golf course as the alternative site for deploying the THAAD antimissile system in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province, and is planning to officially announce the site selection at the end of this month.

“I’ve been told that the work on assessing the potential THAAD deployment sites is basically done and that they’re exploring the option of officially announcing the assessment outcome around the week after the Chuseok holiday [Sept. 14-16],” an official with South Korea’s Defense Ministry said on Sept. 7.

“The conclusion of our assessment of the three possible deployment sites inside Seongju County is that Lotte Skyhill Country Club in Chojeon Township is the most appropriate site,” the official said. Since the golf course is located 15.2 km northwest of Seongju County and is at an elevation of 680 meters, it should be immune from controversy in the county about electromagnetic waves from the THAAD radar.

But the stiff opposition from the residents of the city of Gimcheon, which is located nearby, is expected to create complications for the Ministry’s plans. Gimcheon Innovation City, the home of about 14,000 people in 5,120 households, is located just over 7 km north of the golf course. About 2,100 people in about 1,000 households are also living in Gimcheon’s Nam Township and Nongso Township, which are within a 5.5 km radius of the golf course.

Since the golf course was mentioned as a leading candidate for THAAD deployment, Gimcheon residents have been protesting vehemently by holding demonstrations in opposition to the deployment. On Sept. 1, a delegation from the area that included the mayor of Gimcheon visited South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and expressed opposition to deploying THAAD at the golf course.

The Defense Ministry had initially selected Seongsan Air Defense Base in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, as the site for deploying THAAD. But when this plan ran into strong opposition from Seongju residents, the Ministry officially announced on Aug. 22 that it would be changing the planned deployment site for THAAD and considering three other sites in the county. According to reports, these three sites are the Lotte golf course in Chojeon Township, Yeomsokbong Mountain (872 meters in elevation) in Geumsu Township and Kkachi Mountain (572 meters in elevation) in Suryun Township.

The Ministry has announced that it will be assessing the alternative sites according to six criteria: operational and military effectiveness; the safety of residents, equipment and aircraft; infrastructure and system operations; alertness and security; the need for and costs of construction; and the time needed to prepare for deployment.

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

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