LOC14:48
11:48 GMT
TOKYO, Sept 30 (KUNA) -- South Korea selected the "final" site for an advanced US missile defense system to counter North Korea's missile and nuclear threat, Yonhap News Agency reported Friday.
The decision comes nearly three months after Seoul and Washington originally chose the Seongsan anti-aircraft missile base in Seongju, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to host the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system by 2017.
"We have conducted a simulation-based evaluation on three alternative sites in Seongju. The test results showed the Lotte Skyhill Country Club is the most optimal site for THAAD," Moon Sang-gyun, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, was quoted as saying.
Defense ministers of South Korea and the US approved the results of the month-long evaluations jointly conducted by the allies that ended on Sept. 27.
"The government is determined to finish the THAAD installation within the next year without fail to better protect the security of the country and life of its people from the evolving nuclear and missile threats from North Korea," the ministry said.
This year alone, Pyongyang has escalated its saber-rattling by detonating two nuclear devices and launching a series of ballistic missiles as the communist regime marches toward its stated goal of developing a nuclear-tipped intercontinental missile that can reach the US mainland. (end)
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