Protests as SK names site for defense system
Print Edition
SOUTH Korea said yesterday that an advanced US missile defense system to be deployed in a remote southern county will have the capacity to protect two thirds of the country against attacks from North Korea.
The plan to deploy the system, which fires projectiles to smash into enemy missiles, was announced last week.
The move prompted objections from Russia and China, who accused the US of flexing its military muscle in the region.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, will be deployed in Seongju about 200 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to an agreement by US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and his South Korean counterpart Han Min-Koo, the defence ministry in Seoul said.
The deployment will be completed by the end of next year and will be able to cover up to two thirds of South Korea from missiles fired by North Korea. It will also protect key industrial facilities, including nuclear power plants and oil depots, it added.
“We hope the people and residents in Seongju render support” for the decision, the ministry said in a statement.
However, angry residents fearing harmful economic and environmental effects staged protests in Seongju ahead of the official announcement after reports said the remote, melon growing country would likely be selected as the site.
Thousands took to the streets in Seongju town yesterday, carrying banners reading “We absolutely oppose THAAD deployment,” the Yonhap news agency reported.
Kim Hang-Gon, head of the county, was one of a group who staged a hunger strike, cut their fingers and wrote slogans in blood on banners at the demonstration.
“The THAAD deployment threatens the livelihood of the country’s 45,000 residents, 60 percent of whom are engaged in watermelon agriculture,” a group against the deployment said in a statement.
On Monday, North Korea threatened to take “physical action” against the planned deployment. There was anger in Beijing and Moscow, which both see the deployment as a US bid to boost its military might in the region. China has said the move would “seriously damage” regional security in northeast Asia.
Yesterday, China urged the US and South Korea to halt the deployment.
The THAAD deployment would gravely damage the strategic balance in the region as well as the strategic security interests of countries in the region including China, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters in Beijing.
The move also contravenes efforts to maintain peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, he said, reaffirming China’s strong opposition to it.
He warned that China would take “necessary measures” to safeguard its own interests if the US and South Korea didn’t halt the deployment.
South Korean authorities have been anxious to allay fears over possible trade retaliations from China, its largest trading partner.
Finance Minister Yoo Il-Ho told the National Assembly he believed China will not likely hit South Korea with economic sanctions over the missile system deployment.
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