by Yoo Seungki
SEOUL, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) has become a Trojan horse in South Korea as the conservative bloc is seeking to hold a "THAAD" presidential election on the fall in public support, a South Korean expert said Friday.
"(South) Korea's conservative bloc hopes to hold a THAAD presidential race. The more strongly China responds to THAAD, the more attention people (in South Korea) will pay," Cheong Wooksik, director of Peace Network, told Xinhua.
Cheong recently published the book of "Everything about THAAD" to make it widely known among people that South Korea could be the biggest victim of the THAAD deployment on its soil. The author said nothing is better off in terms of THAAD in his country.
Seoul and Washington agreed in July last year to deploy one THAAD battery in southeast South Korea by the end of this year. The process gained speed earlier this week following Lotte's contract to exchange its golf course for military land to host the THADD system.
The signing advanced the deployment date, which South Korean media outlets estimated sometime between May and July. The hurried push for THAAD was aimed to politicize security issues in the run-up to a possible early presidential vote.
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