GUAM -- A U.S. congresswoman told the South Korean media that the military has received no complaints related to the Terminal High Area Altitude Defense system deployed in the U.S. territory of Guam.

Madeleine Bordallo, the delegate from Guam to the U.S. House of Representatives, said that the people of Guam have welcomed the THAAD deployment and have not complained at all over having the system there.

In an interview with visiting South Korean journalists, she said that threats from North Korea had prompted the U.S. to permanently install the THAAD system in Guam, which currently hosts a U.S. military base.
Under orders from its leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea has worked to step up its nuclear and missile program.

The communist country has fired its intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile multiple times this year, with its latest launch last month assessed as a success.

Bordallo said that she believes THAAD deployment on the Korean Peninsula to be necessary due to North Korea’s threats.

She added that that there has been no visible effects on the environment that can be traced back to THAAD, over two years after the initial deployment.

The recent decision by Seoul and Washington to station the advanced missile defense system at the southern region of Seongju-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, has stirred controversy over its effectiveness, leaving some locals concerned over possible health and environmental issues.

The Defense Ministry addressed the rumors on health issues by revealing its Patriot missile unit and Green Pine radars to the press last week, showing that the operational radars emit very low levels of electromagnetic radiation.

It publicly measured the radiation levels near the Anderson Air Force Base in Guam to show that the THAAD electromagnetic radiation is near background level.

The THAAD base in Guam is located some 3 kilometers away from the nearest residential area, while the THAAD base in Seongju will be 1.5 kilometers from the nearest village.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)
and Joint Press Corps