S. Korea cancels plan to measure THAAD's radar wave emission

The South Korean Defence Ministry on Friday cancelled plans to measure electromagnetic waves emitted from the radar of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system deployed in the country's southeast region.

Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-kyun said the plan was called off amid opposition from anti-THAAD residents and peace activists, Xinhua news agency reported.

Moon said if residents want the measurement in the future, the ministry will provide assistance for that.

The ministry was originally scheduled to measure the level of wave emission in areas near the golf course in Seongju county of North Gyeongsang province where part of the THAAD battery was installed.

Some 40 people in Gimcheon city, which directly faces the radar located in the northernmost part of Seongju, asked the ministry to measure the level of wave emission amid growing fears over its perilousness.

However, anti-THAAD residents in Seongju and Gimcheon on Thursday opposed the planned measurement, seeking instead that it be officially conducted as part of the ongoing environmental impact assessment on the US missile shield.

The Defence Ministry under the previous government measured the level of wave emission in July last year with the THAAD radar installed in the US Pacific island of Guam.

At the time, the radar was reported to have emitted a tiny level of electromagnetic waves.

Anti-THAAD residents in South Korea claimed that the result was manipulated, saying the radar would have emitted a dangerous level of waves if it was in full operation.

--IANS

py/dg