Yoon Geon-young: "Deliberate Delay in Moon Administration's THAAD Evaluation? A Diversion Tactic Amid Japan's Radioactive Water Discharge"

Yoon Geon-young Interview on MBC Radio
"THAAD Operated Normally During 5 Years of Moon Administration"

The ruling party raised suspicions that the Moon Jae-in administration attempted to conceal the environmental impact assessment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system installed in Seongju, Gyeongbuk, while Yoon Geon-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, claimed it was a diversion from the issue of Japan's contaminated water discharge.

On the 28th, Representative Yoon appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and said, "The essence of this issue is that the THAAD system, which is functioning perfectly well, is being criticized with a crude pretext that the environmental impact assessment was delayed, as a way to divert attention from the nuclear power plant contaminated water discharge."

Yoon Geon-young, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

He stated, "This is typical of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration blaming the previous government, and while they say the environmental impact assessment was neglected, the core issue is whether the THAAD system operated normally or not," adding, "The environmental impact assessment is a procedural matter for the construction of the THAAD base, but the key point is the operation of THAAD."

Representative Yoon said, "The environmental impact assessment and THAAD operation are somewhat different in nature," and added, "It is clear that during the past five years, the THAAD system operated normally throughout the Moon Jae-in administration in response to North Korea's missile provocations."

He continued, "The People Power Party does not claim that the THAAD system was not operational," and argued, "They are creating a kind of fake news illusion, pretending as if the Moon Jae-in administration deliberately delayed the environmental impact assessment to disrupt the THAAD system."

Representative Yoon explained, "The results of the small-scale environmental impact assessment were announced by the Minister of National Defense of the Moon Jae-in government in 2017," and added, "The general environmental impact assessment was delayed because the U.S. Forces Korea did not submit the project plan for two years, and because the Seongju residents opposed the THAAD base, preventing the formation of a consultative body."

He pointed out that, on the contrary, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has not disclosed the raw data of the environmental impact assessment. He said, "We asked the Ministry of Environment to provide the basic data from the recent environmental impact assessment, but they have not presented it," and questioned, "If they are confident, why don't they present it?"

He continued, "For example, in the case of the THAAD radar, the electromagnetic waves emitted during scanning and tracking are different," and said, "During scanning, a small amount of electromagnetic waves are emitted, but during tracking, a large amount is emitted. So, when conducting the environmental impact assessment, the timing and mode of electromagnetic wave measurement are important variables, aren't they?"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.