South Korea’s Lotte Group has agreed to trade the land needed to host a planned missile shield despite China’s recent warning of business consequences should the US-built defence platform proceed.
Lotte’s board made the decision on Monday and plans to sign the contract with Seoul’s defence ministry as early as Tuesday, the ministry said. Lotte will hand over its golf course in the southeastern rural country of Seongju to host the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system and receive a state-owned military site near Seoul in return.
The decision paves the way for the Thaad deployment between May and July. The defence ministry has moved to expedite the proceedings to meet the schedule amid heightened military threats from North Korea.
The country’s fifth-largest conglomerate had been dragging its feet on negotiations with the government in recent months as Beijing stepped up retaliatory measures against its operations in China.
China has been vocally opposed to the Thaad system, saying Thaad undermines its nuclear deterrent. It also fears the US will be able to use the platform’s powerful radar to spy deep into its territory.
Chinese state media agency Xinhua last week urged Lotte to defer or reject the Thaad deal, warning the group that it would lose Chinese customers and the Chinese market as a result.
The planned Thaad deployment has caught Lotte between its business interests and the will of the South Korean government. The company has already suffered from undeclared economic sanctions from China, deciding to close three retail stores near Beijing and halting construction of its $2.6bn theme park project in Shenyang in China’s north-east Liaoning province after facing a series of regulatory probes in China.
Lotte’s decision comes as North Korea has re-emerged as a potential conflict hotspot. Last year the reclusive Pyongyang regime tested two nuclear devices and more than 20 ballistic missiles, while this month it launched an advanced mid-range missile and is believed to be behind the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of supreme leader Kim Jong Un.
Lotte said on Monday it was concerned about further business fallout from rising tension between China and South Korea over the Thaad deployment.
As the latest example of the Thaad backlash, China has blocked access to newly updated clips of South Korean music and dramas on the country’s online video-sharing platforms in a move that could dent the popularity of South Korean pop culture in China. Korean actors and pop stars have already found themselves unwelcome in China, with some concerts and television appearances cancelled.
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