Citizens of Seongju and Gimcheon in North Gyeongsang Province on Wednesday met with opposition party leader Choo Mi-ae and visited the US Embassy in Seoul to voice discontent about the government’s plan to locate the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in the southern towns.

The visit came after the residents’ committee in Gimcheon visited Defense Minister Han Min-koo last week to assert that they do not want the US missile defense system in their neighborhood citing health concerns.

The initial plan of the government was to deploy the THAAD in Seongsan-ri, Seongju-gun, but fierce opposition forced it to consider an alternate, more remote location within the county other than Seongsan-ri. This then sparked opposition from Gimcheon, which is near one of potential alternatives.

Choo, the recently elected leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, reiterated her opposition of the THAAD system and accused President Park Geun-hye of “causing a rift among people by abusing national security to gain a political edge.”

Seoul and Washington in July decided to deploy a THAAD battery against the North’s growing nuclear and ballistic missile arsenal. But there has been concern that the THAAD’s range would be unable to protect the highly-populated capital region, and that Pyongyang’s submarine-launched ballistic missile would be able to bypass its defense.

“The THAAD is unable to protect the people from North Korean missiles and is useless in terms of military efficiency. It also is detrimental from the diplomatic point of view, as it makes China and Russia turn their backs on us (South Korea), when we need their cooperation to persuade the North (to denuclearize),” Choo said, while meeting the residents at the National Assembly.

The weapon system has a forward-looking radar with a 120-degree view. Military experts such as Jeffrey Lewis, director of the US-based East Asia Nonproliferation Program, have pointed out that the North Korean submarines would “not have to travel very far out to sea to attack the THAAD system from behind the field of view of its radar.”

China has publicly opposed the THAAD deployment, refusing to send its delegations to the Seoul Defense Dialogue in what appears to be a show of disapproval toward the allies’ decision.

Baek Cheol-hyeon, the joint leader of Seongju residents’ committee against the THAAD, urged Choo to reject the THAAD as an official party platform, as the Minjoo chief had vowed to do so on the heels of being elected last month.

“It was wrong (for the government) to unilaterally announce the deployment to the people, when deployment of the strategic asset is related to the residents’ right to live,” he said.

After the meeting with Choo, the residents’ group visited the US Embassy in Jongro-gu, Seoul to deliver a letter of complaint and hold a protest in front of the building.

It was reported earlier in the day that the Defense Ministry had finished a field evaluation on the potential candidates for the THAAD system, besides Seongsan-ri, and is set to announce the results later in the month.

A Defense Ministry official said that they are currently conducting assessments on the data they have acquired in the field, but said he was unable to confirm exactly when the results will be made public.


By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)