Constitutional Court tosses complaint about Thaad deployment

The Constitutional Court on Friday dismissed two petitions by Won Buddhist followers and residents of Seongju, North Gyeongsang, who claimed that the system's deployment violated their rights.

The United States Forces Korea base in Seongju, North Gyeongsang, on June 22, 2023. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery can be seen pointed skyward on the left. [YONHAP]

The Constitutional Court on Friday dismissed two petitions against the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in a southeastern county, saying its presence does not infringe on the plaintiff’s basic rights.

South Korea agreed to the installation of the U.S. military’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) battery in Seongju, North Gyeongsang, in 2016 amid rising tensions and missile tests by North Korea.

In a unanimous ruling, the court’s nine justices rejected the residents’ petition that Thaad’s placement violates their right to health or a safe environment, noting that electromagnetic waves and noise emitted by the anti-missile system’s radar “falls well below the cap set by the Radio Waves Act.”

According to an environmental impact assessment by the government that was completed in June of last year, the amount of electromagnetic waves emanating from the Thaad battery came to just 0.189 percent of the maximum allowed under the law.

“It is difficult to argue that the plaintiffs’ health and environmental rights are directly violated by the [Thaad] agreement,” the court said in its decision, adding that such concerns, if real, would become apparent during United States Forces Korea’s (USFK) operation of the Thaad system.

The court also rejected the residents’ argument that Thaad’s presence threatens their right to live in peace, saying there is “no possibility that the [South Korea-U.S.] agreement to deploy the [Thaad] system could spark an invasion” by the North.

Like the conservative Park Geun-hye administration that initially agreed to Thaad’s deployment, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration has characterized the system's presence on the peninsula as a necessary security measure in response to the North’s six nuclear weapons tests, multiple ballistic missile launches and other hostile acts against South Korea.

Thaad is a U.S. missile defense system designed to shoot down short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their re-entry phase. The system is deployed to protect U.S. military assets in Korea.

Residents of Seongju, North Gyeongsang, clash with police on April 28, 2021, as they try to block a road being used by the South Korean military to deliver equipment to the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense base. [KIM JUNG-SEOK]

But Seongju residents have argued the system’s deployment on a golf course given to the Defense Ministry by Lotte Group could make their area a primary target should active hostilities break out.

The Constitutional Court also rejected a separate petition by Won Buddhism adherents who argued the Thaad base infringed on their religious rights.

“While part of the land being used by the Thaad base includes a Won Buddhist holy site, it cannot be argued that the use of the land by USFK violates the tenets of any specific faith, nor does it directly affect the plaintiff’s religious activities,” the court ruled.

The decision comes seven years after the plaintiffs filed an administrative lawsuit against the Defense Ministry, alleging the government had failed to follow proper procedure when it decided to proceed with the system’s deployment.

The installation of the Thaad battery also sparked a diplomatic row between South Korea and neighboring China, which claimed that the system’s powerful radar could be used to spy on its missile assets.

Beijing imposed a variety of unofficial economic sanctions against Seoul in retaliation for the system’s deployment, including a ban on Chinese group tours to South Korea and concentrated raids and safety inspections on South Korean businesses operating in China.

Lotte, which once operated five department stores in China, closed its last one in Chengdu in 2022 after being hit hard by the fallout. The group also closed or sold all of its Lotte Mart discount stores in China in 2018.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]