Governor asks Seoul to find alternative site for THAAD
The governor of a South Korean province, where Seoul and Washington agreed to house one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery by the end of next year, has asked the central government to find an alternative site for the US missile defense system.
Kim-Kwan-yong, governor of North Gyeongsang province which includes Seongju county, some 250 kilometers southeast of Seoul, said on Tuesday that the government should acknowledge the fact that no solution can be found if it adheres only to the already designated site.
Kim was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying that both the government and Seongju residents should make efforts to find an alternative site for the US missile shield based on the agreement from residents.
Seoul and Washington abruptly announced their unilateral decision last month to install one THAAD battery by the end of next year, causing strong backlashes from opposition lawmakers and residents at home as well as from neighboring countries.
Seongju residents, enraged at the unilateral announcement, opposed the deployment on worries about environmental and health hazards coming from the THAAD’s X-band radar that emits superstrong microwaves. About 900 people, many of them farmers, sat in somber silence as they had their heads shaved while a protest leader led a crowd in chants of “No THAAD!”
“THAAD should not be deployed at all, not just in Seongju, but anywhere in South Korea,” said Yoo Ji-won, a 63-year-old melon farmer. “We residents gathered here and shaved heads to demonstrate against its deployment.”
Opposition lawmakers and civic group activists demanded a complete retraction or a renegotiation of the THAAD deployment decision as it raises tensions in the region and causes huge damages diplomatically and economically.