I am sure a lot of due diligence will be done by USFK to ensure the proper military location for the THAAD system is chosen, but I would have to think political concerns have to weigh into the deployment location as well. If land has to acquired to deploy the system we could see a repeat of what happened in 2005 when land had to be acquired for the Camp Humphreys expansion. The Korean left would love to start another movement like that to stop the THAAD deployment. If the deployment can happen with no land needing to be acquired I would expect the Korean left to next claim the THAAD hurts the environment in some way. So hopefully USFK has all their environmental impact studies dusted off and ready to go to counter such claims:
A heated dispute is underway regarding possible sites to locate a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery with South Korea and the United States scheduled to begin talks as early as this week on whether the missile-defense system is to be deployed.
Where the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will locate the THAAD unit involves a variety of conflicting matters ranging from reactions from neighboring countries including China, along with possible safety and environmental threats to nearby residents.
Locations cited as possible sites for THAAD include Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, Daegu, and Waegwan in North Gyeongsang Province. The USFK’s Camp Humphreys is located at Pyeongtaek, Camp Walker in Daegu and Camp Carroll at Waegwan, outside of Daegu.
Other candidate sites include Wonju in Gangwon Province and Gunsan in North Jeolla Province.
Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said during a media briefing, Monday, that an allies’ joint working-level group will conduct their review of candidate areas before deciding on a site after consideration of all related matters.
“The military utility of the USFK will be considered as the most important aspect because the THAAD will be operated by the USFK,” he said. “Allies will choose an optimal location from which the military can shoot down North Korean missiles.” [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but the Daegu area is the district for ruling party member Rep. Yoo Seong-min who has been a strong supporter for the deployment of THAAD to Korea. Having strong political support in the region should help counter any Korean left wing attempt to stop the deployment. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.
The physics of the problem should determine where the system is placed.
ChickenHead
8 years ago
“The physics of the problem should determine where the system is placed.”
You probably think wind farms should be placed where there is wind, nuclear power plants shouldn’t go on fault lines, and red light cameras with ridiculously short yellows aren’t really “for safety”.
It’s people like you who get all sciency and ruin perfectly good backdoor politics.
setnaffa
8 years ago
The Chinese would argue (with a straight face) that installing defensive missiles in South Korea is an act of aggression and shut up about them turning shoals into military bases with runways and missile launchers.
@1: The problem is that the physics for the best position of the system could be in the middle of a Korean village and require annexation of land like what happened with Camp Humphreys. I don’t think anyone wants to see the bad publicity and braveheart style battle again. That is why I suspect political sensitivities in the area they put this system into will have to ultimately be considered. But we will see what happens, maybe the Park government is willing to annex land and take on the bad publicity and political fight that will go with it just to get this system in place.
The physics of the problem should determine where the system is placed.
“The physics of the problem should determine where the system is placed.”
You probably think wind farms should be placed where there is wind, nuclear power plants shouldn’t go on fault lines, and red light cameras with ridiculously short yellows aren’t really “for safety”.
It’s people like you who get all sciency and ruin perfectly good backdoor politics.
The Chinese would argue (with a straight face) that installing defensive missiles in South Korea is an act of aggression and shut up about them turning shoals into military bases with runways and missile launchers.
@1: The problem is that the physics for the best position of the system could be in the middle of a Korean village and require annexation of land like what happened with Camp Humphreys. I don’t think anyone wants to see the bad publicity and braveheart style battle again. That is why I suspect political sensitivities in the area they put this system into will have to ultimately be considered. But we will see what happens, maybe the Park government is willing to annex land and take on the bad publicity and political fight that will go with it just to get this system in place.