SEOUL – South Korea will suspend any further deployment of a controversial U.S. missile defense system until an environmental impact assessment ordered by new President Moon Jae-in is finished, his office said Wednesday.

Seoul agreed last year under Moon’s ousted predecessor Park Geun-hye to deploy the powerful missile intercept system to guard against threats from nuclear-armed North Korea despite angry opposition from Beijing, which views it as a threat to its own military capabilities.

Two missile launchers have been deployed in the southern county of Seongju, where hundreds of residents have staged fierce protests over what they see as potential environmental hazards p