South Korea’s retail conglomerate Lotte Group on Monday approved a land-swap deal with the military for stationing a US anti-missile system battery here, a move that will accelerate the government’s efforts to deploy the battery amid objections from China.

The directorate board of Lotte International, which owns a golf club to be used for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery, signed off on an exchange of its property for a piece of land owned by the military, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said.

“We have been informed by Seongju golf club that the board of directors approved the land-swap deal,” said the ministry in a text message sent to reporters, referring to the golf club located in the southeastern rural county of Seongju.
 

The military will sign the land-swap deal with Seongju golf club as early as Tuesday, the ministry added. Seoul and Washington will begin bilateral consultation to hand over the site to the US Forces in Korea, such as carrying out an inspection on the THAAD’s environmental impact, the ministry said.

Last November, the ministry and Lotte Group reached a tentative deal to exchange the golf course for the military-owned land after the government selected the Seounju golf course as the best site for the THAAD battery, which is expected to be deployed here as early as this summer.

The conglomerate was initially expected to approve the deal earlier this year, but delayed the move amid escalating concerns over the potential damage to its business with China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner.

A week ago, China’s state-controlled newswire Xinhwa published an editorial warning Lotte Group that it must reject the deal for the deployment of THAAD unless it wants to face “consequences.” China fears that the THAAD will become an interlined missile defense system surveilling its military activities.

Beijing has taken a series of retaliatory measures against South Korea’s companies operating in China. According to Korean entertainment companies, K-pop stars have been denied permission to perform in China and films were barred from reaching movie theaters there.


By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)