South Korea’s defense chief plans to visit Seongju county, which was selected to host an advanced U.S. missile defense system, to hold talks with residents angered by the “unilateral” deployment decision, the Defense Ministry said Friday.

“We are fine-tuning the defense minister’s schedule for the visit that will probably take place next week,” said a ministry official, who declined to be identified.

The remarks come after some media outlets speculated that Han may visit the rural county, 296 kilometers southeast of Seoul, next Wednesday.

According to the official, residents said they do not want to meet with Defense Minister Han Min-koo if he only wants to persuade them to accept the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system.

“Instead of suggesting any new bargaining chip in talks with local residents, the minister will listen to their opinions about the planned deployment of THAAD,” the official said.

If Han manages to begin a dialogue in Seongju next week, it could become a starting point to resolve ongoing disputes over potential health risks linked to the THAAD’s powerful X-band radar, he said.

As for the request from Seongju residents for documents that show the site selection process, the ministry said it will provide as much data as it can without violating security rules.

On July 8, Seoul and Washington announced a decision to deploy a THAAD battery in South Korea by the end of 2017 to better deal with evolving nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. The two sides then picked Seongju on July 13.

Seongju residents are concerned over potential health problems from the THAAD’s radar waves and have called for the deployment plan to be scrapped. 

(Yonhap)