While speaking to Seongju residents last week, Defense Minister Han Min-koo vowed that environmental tests will be carried out at the proposed missile battery site.

Another official at the defense ministry said the most respected experts in electromagnetic waves and other related fields will be invited to assess any possible risk and report their findings to the public.

He said that Seoul and Washington are expected to start talks related to examining the Status of Forces Agreement to allow South Korea greater access to the THAAD facility, which will be transferred to the United States Forces Korea. At present the site is used by the South Korean Air Force, which has a Hawk missile battery in place.

The government said that while residents and some in the opposition parties have expressed reservations about THAAD, its deployment will greatly enhance the country's ability to deal with the North's missile threat.

The system can intercept incoming missiles at altitudes of

40-150 km, and will augment existing Patriot anti-ballistic missile batteries in the country. A normal THAAD battery consists of six truck-mounted launchers with eight missiles each, a fire control and communications center, and the easily transportable phased-array solid state radar. The 48 interceptors that are designed to hit the incoming missiles and destroy them with kinetic energy have a range of some 200 km, but there is a possibility that Washington may have more missiles stationed in Seongju. (Yonhap)