Support grows for THAAD location 'Plan B'

Residents of Seongju-gun, the intended site of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, on Friday inched one step closer to accepting the government’s plan to deploy the US weapon in the county, backing up from their initial complete rejection of the idea.

The local committee on the retraction of the THAAD deployment in Seongju held an emergency meeting to discuss whether to retain its demand to scrap the plan completely.

Although they failed to reach an agreement, the committee decided to further discuss the recently proposed plan B to place the advanced missile weapon system in a less populated and more remote spot than the government’s initial planned location of Seongsan-ri, Seongju.

“We plan to decide on our specific plans within this week. We hope to narrow the gap between each side’s positions,” the committee head Kim An-su said.

He had suggested that the committee should provisionally agree to accept the “alternate location” option, on the basis that the ministry scrap its decision to place the THAAD in Seongsan-ri.

Another official from the committee told local media that the committee appears to have at least reached an agreement on accepting the alternate location option and discussed whether to designate a specific spot or leave it to the ministry.

But the hard-liners of the committee argued that deciding to house the THAAD within Seongju would threaten the group’s credibility, as it has claimed that the weapon should not be placed anywhere in the peninsula.

The committee is slated to hold another meeting Saturday.

While defending the THAAD deployment on Wednesday, Defense Minister Han Min-koo urged the locals to come up with a collective suggestion on the alternative spot.

The main source of complaint for placing the THAAD in Seongsan-ri -- specifically at an artillery base 400 meters above sea level -- has been that it would sit just 1.5 kilometers from the closest residential area.

Since Seoul and Washington decided to install the THAAD in the peninsula to counter North Korean missile threats, there has been concern that operating the THAAD’s AN/TPY-2 radar so close to people would spark health problems, especially from the microwave radiations.

One of the locations mentioned as an alternative is the Lotte-owned golf course in the adjacent Chojeon-myeon, which is about 20 kilometers north of Seongsan artillery base and 680 meters above sea level. It is also more remote, located 18 kilometers away from the Seongju-gun office. 

The Defense Ministry on Thursday denied rumors that it has agreed with Lotte to purchase the golf course.

But talks of potentially locating the THAAD in the remote golf course has prompted complaints from residents in the neighboring city of Gimcheon, as the cited areas technically belong in Seongju but are geographically closer to Gimcheon.

Gimcheon city held an emergency press conference Thursday to oppose placing the THAAD in the current location of the Lotte golf course, and vowed to reject placing the THAAD in “locations that threaten the safety and survival of 140,000 Gimcheon citizens.”

Meanwhile, a string of high-ranking US military officials have been visiting South Korea and China since the THAAD deployment was announced last month. China has vehemently opposed having its biggest rival’s weapon system close to its territory.

US Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. James D. Syring visited South Korea last month to explain the proficiency of THAAD, its safety and how the THAAD is specifically against North Korean threats and not against China.

Defense Minister Han met with US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus on Friday and discussed measures to better counter threats from North Korea. The two did not discuss the THAAD or rumored deployment of the standard missile-3 on Seoul’s second batch of Aegis-equipped destroyers, the ministry said.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)