South Korea Announces Location for THAAD Missile Defense System

South Korean defense officials says the country will deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system in the southern county of Seongju.

The defense ministry issued a statement Wednesday announcing the deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense System, or THAAD, in the mountainous region located about 296 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The ministry says the selection of Seongju dramatically increases “the capacity to defend key state facilities like nuclear power plants and oil refining installations as well as the South Korea-U.S. alliance forces.”

The announcement completes a negotiation process with Washington that began after North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and several subsequent long-range missile launches.

The agreement to deploy THAAD angered Pyongyang, which threatened Monday to take “”physical action” against the system once it is in place.  The new system is also bitterly opposed by China and Russia, which each believe it gives the United States an outsize military advantage in the region.

South Korean President Park Guen-hye said Monday that THAAD is only intended as a defensive measure against North Korea’s growing ballistic missile capabilities.

But the deployment is also bitterly opposed by some in South Korea over possible hazards to health and the environment. Protests broke out in Seongju earlier Wednesday after Yonhap news agency prematurely announced its selection as the future site of THAAD.

The system is expected to be fully deployed by the end of 2017.

VOA

UM– USEKE.RW