US missile defence equipment reaches S.Korea site

Seoul : US troops began delivering a missile defence system that has infuriated China to a deployment site in South Korea Wednesday, amid heightened tensions over the North's nuclear ambitions.

Washington is urging Beijing -- Pyongyang's sole major ally -- to do more to rein it in, but the Asian giant has reacted with fury to the planned installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

The US and ally South Korea say its deployment, agreed last year, is intended to guard against missile threats from the nuclear-armed North.

But China fears it will weaken its own ballistic capabilities and says it upsets the regional security balance. It has imposed a host of measures seen as economic retaliation against the South, including a ban on tour groups.

TV footage showed large trailers in camouflage paint carrying what appeared to be missile-related equipment entering a golf course in the southern county of Seongju on Wednesday morning.

Hundreds of residents -- who are concerned over the potential environmental impact -- protested angrily, some clashing with police.

Seoul's defence ministry said Wednesday's move was aimed at "securing operational capability of the THAAD as soon as possible", with a goal of fully installing the batteries by the end of this year.

The South is holding a presidential election next month to choose a successor to ousted leader Park Geun-Hye, and Seoul and Washington are pressing ahead with the deployment with some candidates expressing ambivalence over the system.

The South's tourist industry has been hammered by Beijing's boycott over THAAD, with Chinese visitor numbers -- normally more than half the total -- plummeting 40 percent last month even though the ban only came into force on March 15. 

Retail conglomerate Lotte -- which provided the Seongju golf course site to the Seoul government -- has also been targeted, with 85 of its 99 stores in China shut down.