Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Completed site negotiations completed…it's time to accelerate THAAD deployment

Exchanges with military reservation to be unused in Namyangju
Decided on total area being given to Lotte based on the official land value
Planned to grant Seongju golf course to the U.S. Forces Korea after the contract
Expect to significantly reduce construction cost thanks to excellent infrastructure

The deployment process for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), which will be initiated for the U.S. Forces Korea in the following year, is picking up speed.

On November 16, the MND announced, “The Ministry has made an agreement with Lotte International, the owner of the land to acquire Lotte Skyhill Seongju Country Club (Seongju golf course), which was selected as a THAAD deployment site. We are going to exchange it with the military reservation in Namyangju that is planned to be unused, and this will go through an appraisal for the site according to the National Property Act.”

The MND and Lotte plan to select an appraisal and assessment institution to evaluate the market value of the site. The appraisal is expected to take about a month and a half. After the assessment, an exchange contract will proceed following a resolution by Lotte's board, etc.

The MND has been negotiating with Lotte, the owner of the golf course, since Seongju golf course was decisively selected as the site for THAAD on September 30. Sites in Yongin and Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do, Defense Intelligence Command site were suggested, and the parties finally reached the compromise of exchanging with the military reservation in Namyangju.

The military reservation in Namyangju has an area of 200,000 ㎡, and its appraised value reaches 140 billion won. Meanwhile, the area of Seongju golf course is 1,480,000 ㎡ and its appraised land value is 45 billion won. The book value of the financial statements is 85 billion won as of 2016.

Thus, the military reservation in Namyangju is likely to be evaluated higher than Seongju golf course. If this is the case, the MND will reduce the land area to be given to Lotte.

When the MND and Lotte finalize their negotiation based on the results of site appraisal and assessment and enter into a final agreement, Seongju golf course will come into the MND’s possession. After the acquisition of Seongju golf course, the MND plans to give the site to the U.S. Forces Korea who will operate THAAD in accordance with the Korea-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

The SOFA Facilities and Areas Subcommittee will chair the site-granting consultation. This is expected to be completed early next year in the form of lease of land to the U.S. forces. The U.S. bears all the costs for THAAD development and operation, while Korea provides the site and infrastructure. As Seongju golf course has infrastructures such as access road, water supply, electricity, etc. it is expected that our share of the construction cost will not be high.

An MND official said, “We pay for the infrastructure, and the U.S. pays for internal facilities - that’s the principle. The fact that Seongju golf course already has good infrastructure means that we should be able to significantly reduce our construction costs.”

The 15th Supply battalion and 7th Food Service battalion, subordinates of the 2nd Logistical Support Command, are stationed in the military reservation in Namyangju, 5 minutes away from Toegyewon station. These units will be relocated by the end of next year according to the transfer plan started in 2013.

An MND official said, “We are in conference with the U.S. for SOFA site granting and facilities construction. The MND will carry out the THAAD deployment according to plan to prepare for stronger North Korean nuclear and missile threats.”

By Byeong-No, Yun < trylover@dema.mil.kr >
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