South Korea officially announced Wednesday that it has decided to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in the southern region of Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

Seoul’s defense ministry said a joint survey team from Korea and the U.S. agreed that Seongsan-ri, Seongju-gun, is the most ideal location for the advanced missile defense system among the candidate locations.

The two sides decided that Seongju, with its air defense artillery unit operated by the Air Force, would be the best place for THAAD considering the system’s military effectiveness and concerns about possible negative effects its high-powered radar might have on the environment and health.

The two sides kicked off talks to station THAAD on the peninsula in February after North Korea’s long-range rocket launch that followed a fourth nuclear test in January.

Located at around 400 meters above sea level, Seongju has been considered as the best candidate for THAAD due to its military effectiveness and distance from populated areas. The candidate location is about 2 km away from Seongju-eup and 1.5 km from Seongsan-ri, whose population totals about 2,800.

Given THAAD’s operating range, the THAAD base in Seongju would be able to provide coverage for a massive U.S. military base which is being built in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

It is also out of range of North Korea’s 300 mm multiple rocket launchers, which are presumed to be able to strike targets 200 kilometers away.

The Seongju-based THAAD radar would not be able to reach China, which has been one of Beijing’s biggest concerns as it has argued deploying THAAD on the peninsula would hurt its strategic interests.

South Korea is expected to deploy new PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles to defend Seoul and its surrounding areas from the North’s missile attacks.

By Ahn Doo-won

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