S Korea president calls for unity over THAAD deployment
SEOUL: South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said on Thursday the move to deploy a THAAD missile defence system was “inevitable” because of a growing threat from North Korea and that division in the South over its deployment is what Pyongyang seeks.
North Korea’s launch of three ballistic missiles on Tuesday was the latest evidence that the anti-missile system is needed, Park said at a National Security Council meeting.
This month’s announcement by South Korea and the United States to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) unit with the US military in a rural melon-farming county in the South triggered loud protests from residents worried about possible negative health and environmental impacts.
“If we continue to be divisive and social confusion grows about a decision we had no choice but to make to protect the country and the lives of our people, it would be exactly where North Korea wants us to go,” Park said, according to her office.
North Korea said on Wednesday it had conducted a ballistic missile test that simulated preemptive strikes against South Korean ports and airfields used by the US military, likely referring to the three missiles fired on Tuesday.
The missiles flew between 500 kms and 600 kms into the sea off its east coast and could have hit anywhere in South Korea if the North intended, the South’s military said.
Many residents of Seongju, about 200 km from the capital Seoul, joined by opposition members of parliament and civic groups, have demanded the government scrap the decision to site the THAAD battery there.
Thousands of Seongju residents were expected to hold a protest rally in central Seoul later on Thursday.