Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn inspects the candidate site for an advanced U.S. missile defense system in Seongju, a county about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on July 15, 2016. His visit came in the face of strong opposition from residents, who are worried about health risks from the missile system’s powerful radar and question the murkiness of the site selection. (Yonhap)
Like I said in my previous posting, I had a little confidence that the ROK would be able to keep the deployment location of the THAAD battery in South Korea secret if this report is accurate:
This photo taken on July 12, 2016, shows Seongju county from a mountain near the current South Korean Air Force surface-to-air missile battery site on Seongsan. (Yonhap)
South Korea and the United States are likely to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system to Seongju county in the south central region of the country, a military source said Tuesday.
As early as next week, Seoul and Washington are likely to announce where they will place the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, said the official source who declined to be identified. The source also said the Seongsan-ri region of the county, about 296 km south of Seoul, will be chosen as the site of the missile system.
The two countries evaluated that the location is optimal, given that the site is suitable for military operations and is sparsely populated, the insider said.
“The allies have reached an understanding that Seongju, which already has the Air Force’s Hawk surface-to-air missile battery, is the best location for the THAAD system,” he said, adding that they are awaiting final approval from their respective national military authorities. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but according to the article residents in the county are preparing to protest the decision. At this point I don’t even know if the residents even realize what they are protesting against? The THAAD is going on military land thus no civilian land will be taken and there is no danger from the radar as long as it is positioned 100 meters from homes which is assuredly will.
Plus there is already a Hawk radar at the location that the ROK Air Force is using and no one is protesting that?
