The Korea Times:
The commander of U.S. Forces Korea said Tuesday that a U.S. anti-ballistic missile shield, scheduled to be deployed in South Korea next year, will better counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, stressing that the system will pose no health risks to residents.
Gen. Vincent Brooks made the comment at a seminar hosted in Seoul by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, amid mounting safety concerns regarding the operation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.
He said Seoul and Washington need to increase the layers of air and missile defense to counter the growing arsenal of missiles in the North, noting that “the recent decision to deploy THAAD was a good decision toward this end.”
On the safety issue associated with the electromagnetic waves emitted from the AN/TPY-2 radar of the system, the commander said no one will be closer to that equipment than the soldiers under his command.
“I would not recklessly endanger these soldiers while they are protecting someone else, neither would I allow them to endanger anyone they are trying to protect,” he said. “I do hope that those facts continue to meet the public so that there can be an acceptance of this important defensive capability.”
