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Bae Jung-ha and her son

“I didn’t use to care about the THAAD deployment issue. But you know how moms are – they won’t feed anything to their kid that’s even a little bit unhealthy. So when [the government] decided to deploy THAAD in Seongju, it became relevant for my kids, and I had to do something about it.”

The sisters Bae Eun-ha, 41, and Bae Jung-ha, 39, started a demonstration in front of the Seongju County Office in North Gyeongsang Province on July 14. Around the two women’s necks were placards that said, “THAAD threatens our children’s lives, and we’re absolutely opposed to it.” Eun-ha and Jung-ha’s children stood beside them.

Eun-ha and Jung-ha are ordinary mothers – the older sister has three daughters, and the younger one has one son and one daughter. On Thursday afternoon, other residents of the county started to join their demonstration.

Since South Korea’s Defense Ministry officially announced that the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile defense system would be deployed in Seongju, a backlash has been building, largely from young mothers living in the county.

Since July 12, residents have been gathering in front of the Seongju County Office every day at 8 pm to hold a candlelit vigil. Hundreds of residents have showed up carrying candles.

Residents have also set up a chatroom on KakaoTalk, a messaging app, expressing their “absolute opposition to deploying THAAD.” There are about 1,300 people in the group, who use it to share information and voice their opinions.

“We’re seeing a lot of moms and dads in their thirties and forties,” said Lee Jae-dong, 48, president of a farming association for Seongju County. “Without anyone to organize them, they’ve been getting in touch with each other on social media and getting together of their own volition.”

Since July 12, Kim Hang-gon, mayor of Seongju County, and Bae Jae-man, speaker of the Seongju County legislature, have been on a hunger strike in front of the Seongju County Office.

Candlelit vigils in opposition to deploying THAAD also took place in central Seoul on the evening of July 13 and 14, with mostly young people in attendance.

Youth organizations including the Youth Independence Army worked together to organize a candlelit vigil for young people and students in front of the KT building in Gwanghwamun, near the US embassy. Protestors at the vigil demanded that the government reverse its decision to deploy THAAD.

Civil society and religious groups are calling for a pan-national peace campaign to push the government to undo its decision about the missile defense system.

“We will work together to prevent Seongju County in North Gyeongsang Province from becoming another Daechu Village in Pyeongtaek or Gangjeong Village on Jeju Island,” said the operating committee of the Council for Peace on the Korean Peninsula, which held a press conference on Thursday at the Press Center in downtown Seoul. (Daechu is the site of a US military base and Gangjeong the site of a naval base.)

The press conference was attended by 127 figures representing 44 organizations and a wide range of fields, including Kim Yeong-ju, general director of the National Council of Churches in Korea; Ji Eun-hui, former Minister of Gender Equality; and Lee Bu-yeong, president of Solidarity for Peace in Northeast Asia.

The Council for Peace on the Korean Peninsula is planning to hold pan-national candlelight vigils in opposition to deploying THAAD on July 16 and July 23.

By Kim Il-woo, Daegu correspondent and Bang Jun-ho, staff reporter

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