Lotte International was unable to reach a final conclusion to endorse the deal that would allow the government to install THAAD on the firm's golf course, further stoking concerns that the deployment of the antimissile battery could be delayed.

The Lotte unit owning the golf course opened a board of directors meeting on Friday to approve the deal to swap military land for the space in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.
 
A Lotte official said the board of directors will hold more meetings given that there is much to go over, including the value of the land and feasibility.
 
Some observers had raised the possibility that Lotte could reach a decision on the issue on Friday as the South Korea-U.S. defense ministers’ meeting in Seoul was taking place around the same time.
 
Lotte is said to have recognized that the land swap deal was requested from the aspect of national security and that the military-owned property in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, could be used in various ways.
 
Lotte is said to have tentatively decided to provide the golf course as the site for the THAAD deployment as agreed with the Defense Ministry last year.