hankyoreh

Residents of Seongju Township

“These rallies have been going on for 100 days now. The wind has blown and the rain has poured, but the candles of Seongju have not gone out. I’m proud of and grateful to the people of Seongju County for holding these candles day after day,” said Kim Chung-hwan, 56, a resident of Suryun County, at 7:30 pm on Oct. 20. Kim, the chair of a Seongju action committee fighting against the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system, was speaking to county residents who were holding candles during a candlelit rally held in opposition to THAAD. The rally took place in the parking lot across from the Seongju County Office in Seongju Township, Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province.

“Whether it takes 200 days or 300 days, we’ll keep holding the candles and continuing the struggle until the THAAD deployment plans are scrapped,” Kim said.

On Oct. 20, the 100th day that the rally was held, more than 600 people came out to light a candle. Before the rally began, the protestors marched through Seongju Township in a line carrying 100 lamps to symbolize the 100 days of the candlelit rallies.

“When they first said that THAAD would be coming to Seongju, we began our struggle, thinking it was a matter of our survival. But during our struggle, we came to understand that this goes beyond our own survival and has to do with keeping the peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. The protestors feel proud for having fought on behalf of peace. I think that that pride is what has allowed them to keep carrying the candles for 100 days,” said Park Su-gyu (53, from Daega Township), who is in charge of the action committee’s situation room.

The candles of Seongju were first lit on the lawn in front of the Seongju County Office on the evening of July 13, which was the day that the South Korean Ministry of Defense announced that THAAD would be deployed at the Seongsan Battery in Seongju. At one time, more than 2,000 people were coming out to the rallies, but since then the rallies have faced numerous challenges, and the number of protestors has dwindled to just over 400. Even so, the candles lit by county residents have not gone out.

The candlelit rallies at Seongju have endured quite a few ups and downs. At first, Seongju County mayor Kim Hang-gon appeared at a rally to declare his opposition to deploying THAAD on the Korean Peninsula, but he shifted his stance on Aug. 22 during an abruptly convened press conference, when he asked the Defense Ministry to deploy THAAD somewhere other than the Seongsan Battery. In an attempt to prevent the candlelit rallies from being held, the county government closed the county office and even cut off the power supply.

On Sep. 11, when the 61st rally was to be held, the county mobilized civil servants and government vehicles to block off the office lawn. Though they had been kicked out of the place where they had usually lit the candles, the protestors continued the rally that evening on a one-meter wide sidewalk in front of the county cultural center and post office. After holding the rally for 15 days on that sidewalk, they once again lit their candles on the office lawn on Sep. 26. The county government and the action committee had reached an agreement that gave the protestors temporary access to the lawn.

But on Oct. 2, the 82nd day of the rallies, the county government brought in dump trucks and once again blocked off the front lawn. At this, the protestors gathered in front of the entrance to continue the rally. When the backlash from protestors intensified, the county government finally gave locals permission to hold their rallies in the parking lot across from the county office. Since Oct. 7, that is where the rallies have been taking place.

As the candles were lit for the 100th day of the rallies, the action committee read a message to the people of South Korea: “We would like to humbly express our appreciation to all of the peace-loving people around the country who have followed the Seongju struggle, provided us with both moral and material support, and been there for us. It was because you were with us that the people of Seongju did not become lonely and exhibited even more courage.”

By Kim Il-woo, Daegu correspondent in Seongju

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