South Korea will announce the site for deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system later in the day, the defense ministry said Wednesday.

The decision for the location will be announced at 3:00 p.m., the Ministry of National Defense said in a brief media release.

Last week, South Korea and the United States' militaries officially unveiled their agreement to place the high-tech anti-ballistic missile defense system in South Korea to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

The allies have virtually agreed to pick the southern county of Seongju, where a South Korean air defense artillery unit is based, to host the defense system, according to military sources.

The mountainous region near South Korea's southeastern coast has been tapped as the most suitable site for its location close to key South Korean and U.S. military headquarters as well as being relatively far from China.

The county located some 300 km southeast of Seoul places it out of range of North Korea's long-range multiple rocket launcher systems. Beijing has opposed the THAAD deployment on South Korean soil from the outset, claiming it hurt its core security interest. 

South Korea and the U.S. have previously said the deployment will be wrapped up at least by the end of 2017.

The afternoon decision, meanwhile, is likely to cause anger among Seongju residents who are opposed to the THAAD deployment due to health and environmental concerns. (Yonhap)