| Advertisement |
April 3 (UPI) -- South Korea has completed an assessment of the environmental impact of a U.S. missile defense system. Seoul's military and environmental authorities finished the inspection Friday in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, where THAAD would be deployed at a golf course that belongs to the conglomerate Lotte, News 1 reported.
Advertisement
The inspection was met with some resistance on Wednesday, when local residents blocked a road being used to transport a large truck carrying equipment for environmental testing.
The environmental ministry eventually carried out the evaluation, and the military intends to move forward with THAAD deployment per an agreement, signed after Feb. 28, with the U.S. military in Korea.
South Korea authorities now say the facility construction work for THAAD deployment could begin in early April, although a U.S. military official in Seoul told News 1 not all the equipment for THAAD has been deployed to the peninsula.
Authorities on both sides remain sensitive to key dates, including South Korea's election day on May 9, as they move forward with deployment.
THAAD has remained a thorny issue between China and South Korea and between China and the United States.
Beijing may have sanctioned South Korea business activities in China and blocked Chinese tourism to South Korea in response to the deployment.
A South Korean diplomatic official told Yonhap Seoul has delivered a message to Washington, stating its position on Chinese economic retaliation against Seoul.
The message is being delivered ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the United States.
The official said Chinese retaliation unfairly targets South Korea, and that the United States is aware of measures Beijing has taken against the U.S. ally.
China continues to curb Chinese tourism to South Korea, according to Busan Port Authority.
Chinese cruise ships once headed for the South Korean port city have canceled more than 50 trips, according to Yonhap.
