SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The timing of the U.S. missile shield deployment in South Korean soil will depend on a land swap contract with Lotte Group, Seoul's defense ministry said Friday.
Lotte, the country's fifth-largest family-controlled conglomerate, possesses a golf course in southeast South Korea where Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is set to be sited.
Seoul and Washington agreed in July last year to install one THAAD battery by the end of this year. If the deal to exchange military land for the Lotte-owned property, the remaining procedures for the THAAD deployment would gain speed.
Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-kyun told a press briefing that it depends on when Lotte holds a board of directors meeting and what results come out from it.
Lotte International, a Lotte Group unit possessing the golf course, held the meeting in early February, but it failed to approve the land exchange deal, delaying it to next meeting.
A Lotte official told Xinhua that nothing has been decided yet over the date of the next meeting and its results.
Yonhap news agency reported that it is highly likely for the meeting to be held on Feb. 27. If the land swap deal is approved, Lotte and the defense ministry will formally sign the contract.
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