South Korea’s military aims to deploy an advanced US missile defense unit on a golf course, a South Korean Ministry of National Defense official said yesterday, after it had to scrap its initial site for the battery in the face of opposition from residents.
Tension on the Korean Peninsula has been high this year, beginning with North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January, which was followed by a satellite launch, a string of tests of various missiles and its fifth and largest nuclear test this month.
In July, Seoul agreed with Washington that the US’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system would be deployed in the Seongju region, southeast of the capital, to defend the country.
Photo: Yonhap/AP
However, residents of the melon farming area protested over worries about the safety of the system’s powerful radar and the likelihood it would be a target for North Korea, which warned of retaliation, if war broke out.
The plan to deploy the system has also angered China, which worries that the THAAD’s powerful radar would compromise its security.
The new site for the missile battery would be a golf course at the high-end Lotte Skyhill Seongju Country Club, the official told reporters, confirming media reports.
The club is owned by the Lotte Group conglomerate and had been considered as an alternative due to its high altitude and accessibility for military vehicles, the official said.
It is not clear how the military will acquire the property, reportedly worth about 100 billion won (US$90.78 million).
A spokesman for the Lotte Group declined to comment and an official at the country club did not have an immediate response.
The US this week said that it would speed up deployment of the THAAD system given the pace of North Korea’s missile tests, and it would be stationed in South Korea “as soon as possible.”
On Thursday, China again warned against the deployment, saying it “means what it says” when it says it will consider countermeasures.
The US and South Korea have said THAAD does not threaten China’s security or target any country other than North Korea.
The military analyzed three possible locations for the system and found the golf course to be the most feasible, as the other two would require additional engineering that would delay the deployment, said the official, who declined to be identified, as he was not authorized to speak to media.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese