Resistance to THAAD deployment spreading to alternative candidate site

Posted on : 2016-08-22 17:36 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Residents of Gimcheon, near Seongju, start holding candlelight vigils nightly to call for THAAD to not be deployed to their town
The first candlelight vigil against the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system
The first candlelight vigil against the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system

A campaign against deploying the THAAD missile defense system is also gaining momentum in the city of Gimcheon, located next to Seongju County. On one evening this past weekend, residents of Gimcheon held their first candlelight vigil against THAAD.

After initially planning to deploy THAAD at the Seongsan Battery in Seongju County, South Korea’s Defense Ministry has now mentioned Lotte Sky Hill Seongju Country Club - located in the northern corner of Seongju, next to Gimcheon - as an alternative deployment site. The golf course is about 17 km from Seongsan Battery as the crow flies and about 7km away from Gimcheon Innovation City.

At 7:30 pm on Aug. 20, a candlelight vigil opposing THAAD deployment was held at the amphitheater at the Riverside Park in Gimcheon’s Bugok Neighborhood. The event was organized by the Association of Democratic Civic Groups in Gimcheon (composed of 11 civic groups in the area, including branches of a cargo union, railroad workers‘ union, medical workers’ union, and teachers’ union) and an action committee against THAAD that represents Nongso Township and Yulgok Neighborhood. At the vigil, protestors demanded that the central government and the Defense Ministry cancel their plans to deploy THAAD at the Lotte Sky Hill Seongju Country Club.

About 700 people participated in the vigil on Aug. 20, including Gimcheon mayor Park Bo-saeng and leaders of the Seongju Action Committee for Cancelling the Decision to Deploy THAAD.

“You know people are really worried when they come out with their kids on their backs. When it’s really time to come together, we shouldn’t act like we’re busy but we should step forward together and show them our amazing civic solidarity,” said Park Bo-saeng.

“When I saw the THAAD issue blowing up in Seongju, I realized it was an issue that affects the entire Korean Peninsula. We’re not ’dogs and pigs,‘ [but] the government thinks of us as pawns. Let’s show them our resolution as citizens!” said Kim Dae-seong, chair of the Association of Democratic Civic Groups in Gimcheon.

The association is planning to hold candlelight vigils every day.

By Kim Kwang-soo, Busan correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

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