THAAD deployment controversy

Overview

The THAAD deployment controversy began when South Korea and the United States announced on July 8, 2016, that they would deploy one battery of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD, 사드) to US Forces Korea, justified as a response to the nuclear and missile threat from North Korea. The deployment site was first announced in July as the Seongsan battery in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province, but after resident opposition it was changed on September 30 to the Lotte Seongju Golf Course (Lotte Skyhill Seongju CC) in Chojeon-myeon, Seongju County. The equipment first arrived in South Korea on March 6, 2017, was brought into the Seongju base at the end of April, and became operational on May 2. The Moon Jae-in administration suspended additional deployment in June, citing procedural problems, and then, after North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile test launches, deployed the remaining four launchers in September.

China strongly objected, arguing that the THAAD radar threatened its national security, and informal retaliatory measures followed against South Korean businesses, popular culture, and tourism. South Korea and China agreed to improve relations on October 31, 2017, but the THAAD issue remained a point of contention in South Korea–United States and South Korea–China relations afterward.

Background

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January 2016 and a long-range rocket launch in February. South Korea and the United States formally began consultations on THAAD deployment in February and announced the decision on July 8, 2016. A THAAD battery consists of six launchers, 48 interceptor missiles, fire control equipment, and an AN/TPY-2 radar (per English Wikipedia). Seongju was considered a candidate site in part because it lies outside the range of North Korean multiple rocket launchers deployed near the Demilitarized Zone.

Developments

Seongju's opposition and change of site

When the Ministry of National Defense announced on July 13 that the Seongsan battery in Seongju-eup would be the deployment site, residents of Seongju held large candlelight rallies, fearing health damage from radar electromagnetic waves and damage to the county's oriental melon farming. On July 15, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and Defense Minister Han Min-koo held a briefing for residents at the Seongju County Office, but as more than 3,000 county residents gathered, eggs and water bottles were thrown, and the prime minister's party was blocked by tractors and other vehicles, trapping them in a minibus for several hours (reports vary between more than three hours and nearly six hours). At the request of Seongju County, the government reviewed a third site and on September 30 finalized the Lotte Seongju Golf Course, which was farther from residences and higher in elevation, as the final site. This prompted residents of Soseong-ri in Chojeon-myeon, near the golf course, and residents of neighboring Gimcheon to oppose it.