US military ‘swiftly’ installing antimissile battery in South Korea

SEOUL — The United States military started installing a controversial antimissile defense system in South Korea overnight Tuesday, triggering protests and sparking criticism that it was rushing to get the battery in place before the likely election of a president who opposes it.
The sudden and unannounced move came only six days after the US military command in South Korea secured the land to deploy the system, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD.
Moon Jae-in, a liberal candidate who has a strong lead in polls ahead of a May 9 presidential election, has promised to review South Korea’s decision to host the antimissile battery.
‘‘There’s a sense in Seoul that THAAD deployment has been rushed based on the timetable of South Korea’s presidential election, rather than North Korea’s threats,’’ said John Delury, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul.