Deputy Minister for Defense Policy Wee Seung-ho will be excluded from duty for his part in withholding THAAD-related information from the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae announced Monday.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, Wee ordered the fact that four THAAD launchers were in store at a US military base in South Korea to be removed from the Ministry of National Defense’s report to the presidential transition team on May 25. For his role, Wee will be excluded from his official duties.


“In the process of reviewing the report, Deputy Minister for Defense Policy Wee Seung-ho ordered phrases (that clarified the number of THAAD launchers) to be deleted,” Yoon Young-chan, chief presidential press secretary, said, saying that the initial draft clearly stated that six THAAD launchers were in South Korea, four of which were stored at a US military base. The draft was first compiled before the presidential election, Yoon said, adding that the motives for withholding information is still unclear.

Yoon added that the phrases were replaced with ambiguous wording designed to prevent those being briefed from fully understanding the situation in the final version.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, Wee claimed that the details were removed due to an agreement with the US military to maintain secrecy, and that he had planned to give an oral report elaborating on the details.

“(The nondisclosure agreement with the US military) is an issue separate from the commander in chief. It has been confirmed that the introduction of additional launchers were reported to the previous administration, and the acting president was aware of the issue.”

Yoon said that President Moon Jae-in ordered further investigation into the matter, which will be conducted by the Defense Ministry, and if necessary by the Board of Audit and Inspection.

Yoon also revealed that former acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn, and former and current officials including Defense Minister Han Min-koo will not be subjected to further investigation or questioning by the presidential office.

The presidential office also revealed that the Defense Ministry deliberately arranged the processes involved in the deployment of THAAD to avoid a full environmental impact study. According to Cheong Wa Dae, the Defense Ministry limited the first stage of land handed over for THAAD deployment to under 330,000 square-meters to bypass local environmental laws.

In the Defense Ministry’s land handover plans, drawn up on Nov. 25, 329,770 square-meters of land would be handed over to the US military in the first stage. The land designated to be handed over first is in the form of an inverted U in order to exclude the land that falls in the center from the initial handover, the presidential office said.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)