SK citizens sue on missile land deal
Print Edition
PEOPLE living near a South Korean golf course yesterday sued to stop it hosting a controversial American missile system that has angered China, lawyers said, after Chinese media issued a veiled threat of a consumer boycott over the plan.
A subsidiary of retail giant Lotte Group, South Korea’s fifth-biggest company, signed an agreement yesterday with the defense ministry to provide the course in the southeast of the country, authorities said, despite coming under growing pressure from crucial market China over the proposal.
The plan by the United States and South Korea to install the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in response to threats from nuclear-armed North Korea has angered Beijing, which fears it will undermine its own ballistic capabilities.
Chinese authorities have forced Lotte to suspend a US$2.6 billion theme park construction project.
But the Lotte board on Monday approved the swap of a company-owned golf course in Seongju county, in southeastern South Korea, for a parcel of military-owned ground near Seoul.
Xinhua news agency said the decision “could turn into a nightmare for Lotte.” It added that “exasperated Chinese people may boycott Lotte products and services” in South Korea.
The plan has also stirred protest closer to home, with local citizens launching a lawsuit with the Seoul administrative court against South Korea’s defense ministry.
“This is only the beginning of our legal battles to stop this project,” lawyer Kim Yu-Jeong told journalists outside the defense ministry, where some 40 activists and residents mounted a demonstration.
Kim Chung-hwan, the protest leader in Seongju county, said that hundreds of soldiers and riot police had been deployed at the nearby golf course to guard entrances.
Yonhap news agency said the military planned to use helicopters to bring in barbed wire fencing to close off the site after weeks of daily protests.
The agency quoted an unidentified defense ministry official as saying that the THAAD system would be in place as early as in May or June.
The lawsuit from residents of Seongju county and neighboring Gimcheon accuses the defense ministry of bypassing legally required procedures, including prior agreement from local people and an environmental impact assessment.
Under the agreement, Lotte will provide 1,480,000 square metres of land in Seongju — with an estimated value of 8.9 billion won (US$7.9 million) — for 67,000 square meters on the outskirts of Seoul.
China’s foreign ministry on Monday reiterated its strong opposition to the planned installation, warning of “consequences” for South Korea and the US.
Food and retail focused Lotte has reportedly invested some US$8.8 billion in China and an estimated 80 percent of sales at its duty free shops are to Chinese customers.
Last year North Korea staged two atomic tests and a number of missile launches.
The most recent missile test on February 12 — the first since US President Donald Trump took office — showed some signs of progress in its missile capabilities, according to the South Korean military.
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