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The residents of Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province have sent an open letter to the candidates in the US presidential election and to the lawmakers vying to become the leader of the Saenuri Party asking about their position on the deployment of the THAAD antimissile system in South Korea.

“We sent the candidates for the US presidency and the candidates for the head of the Saenuri Party an open letter in which we asked what their position is about deploying THAAD in the Republic of Korea,” the Seongju Action Committee for Repealing the Decision to Deploy THAAD said on Aug. 3. The committee is co-chaired by Baek Cheol-hyeon, Jeong Yeong-gil, Kim An-su and Lee Jae-bok.

On Aug. 1, the action committee sent an open letter by email to Donald Trump, presidential candidate for the Republican Party, and Hillary Clinton, presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, asking what their position about deploying THAAD in South Korea is and whether they are willing to retract that decision. On Aug. 2, they sent an open letter containing the same questions to the two candidates by registered mail.

On Aug. 1, the action committee also faxed an open letter to lawmakers Lee Ju-yeong, Lee Jeong-hyeon, Han Seon-gyo, Jeong Byeong-guk and Ju Ho-yeong, who are in the running to become leader of the Saenuri Party. The action committee asked the candidates to explain by Aug. 6 what their position is about retracting the decision to deploy THAAD in South Korea and about requiring the National Assembly to ratify that decision.

Since July 15, the action committee has been organizing a petition to “rescind the decision to deploy [the] THAAD antimissile system in South Korea” on the White House’s petition website, called We the People. As of Aug. 4, 56,214 people had signed the petition.

If 100,000 people sign the petition by Aug. 14, the US government will provide an official response on the issue.

By Kim Il-woo, Daegu correspondent

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