Defense ministry counters health, diplomatic concerns over THAAD deployment

As South Korea moves forward with deploying the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, the country is expanding efforts to allay public health and diplomatic anxieties surrounding the move, local observers said Wednesday.

South Korea and the United States are to officially announce the location for deploying a THAAD battery later in the day in the run-up to the full deployment of one THAAD battery by the end of 2017.

A southern county of Seongju, close to the country's southeast coast, has been tapped as the most suitable site for the deployment.

Locally, the move has fueled public concerns over possible health, environmental and diplomatic implications the deployment could have on the neighborhoods of the host town.

Those concerns are largely twofold; the THAAD battery's powerful X-Band radar could pose health risks for nearby residents and the radar could be used to spy on China's military presence to the detriment of the South Korea-China relations.

In response to the health concerns, the defense ministry said the deployment would not have any harmful effects because the radar will be kept at a safe distance from residents. The radar will also be facing upward, keeping residents safely away from the radar beam emitted, according to the ministry.

The THAAD radar's electromagnetic waves could be hazardous within a radius of 100 meters, but civilians will be kept at least 500 meters away from the radar given that the THAAD system's six interception missile launchers are required to be placed at least 500 meters off the radar due to potential radio disturbance, according to an official source.

The radar and the launchers will be operated within a military base where civilians are not allowed, the official said.

They also made clear that because the radar is designed to detect and track aerial targets, it will be tilted upward at an angle of at least five degrees. The posture will keep the radar's beam away from ground structures, according to the ministry.

The mountainous high-altitude county's location would also help keep out any possibility of harmful radar effects on the ground, it stressed.

"The power density outside of the safety distance around the THAAD radar meets the standards of the local law and guidelines set by World Health Organization," one ministry official noted.

In reaction to the angst over a potential diplomatic feud with China, the ministry said the radar is incapable of detecting or tracking China's ballistic missiles as the neighbor and some local critics worry.

The officials said the THAAD system will come with a fire control radar, not with an early warning one which is normally capable of detecting an ballistic missile from a location some 2,000 kilometers away.

The fire control radar coming to South Korea is only capable of detecting ballistic missiles within a range of 600 to 800 km, they said. Deployed in Seongju, the radar could only cover the very edges of China.

Also addressing cost concerns, the ministry said the deployment would not immediately lead to any financial burden on the South Korean side because the U.S. will shoulder the 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion) needed to deploy and operate the THAAD battery. (Yonhap)