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condemning the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system

“We’re already upset about THAAD being deployed in our town, and now they want us to pay for it, too? South Korea can’t pay, so just send it back to the US,” said Lim Soon-boon, 61, on Apr. 28. “At first, the US said it would be paying for the deployment, so it’s ridiculous for them to start asking us to pay for it now.” Lim is head of the women’s association in Soseong Village, Chojeon Township, Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province, where the THAAD missile defense system is being deployed.

“I’m grateful to Trump for bringing us to the realization that the US’s ultimate goal was to sell THAAD to South Korea,” said Bae Mi-yeong, 39, a Seongju resident.

On the day that US President Donald Trump asked South Korea to pay US$1 billion to deploy THAAD and South Korea’s Defense Ministry rejected the request, a group chatroom on KakaoTalk that is used by more than 800 residents of Seongju was filled with comments about “bastards selling out the country” and “morons in the Defense Ministry.” “It seems as if not a single thing has gone right with the THAAD deployment. It doesn’t make sense for the Defense Ministry to deny that when the US president is openly asking for US$1 billion,” said Kim Chung-hwan, 57, co-chair of the Seongju Committee Fighting for the Cancellation of the THAAD Deployment.

“Is South Korea a colony that has to cough up cash whenever the US wants it to?” asked Park Hee-ju, 48, who is a member of the Gimcheon city council as well as co-chair of the Gimcheon Civic Action Committee Against the THAAD Deployment.

Civic groups hold a press conference in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square

At 4 pm on Apr. 28, several civic groups held an emergency press conference in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square, during which they castigated the South Korean and American governments and called for the removal of THAAD. The press conference was organized by the Seongju Committee Fighting for the Cancellation of the THAAD Deployment, the Gimcheon Civic Action Committee Against the THAAD Deployment, the Emergency Action Committee to Defend the Won Buddhist Holy Site in Seongju, the National Campaign to Block the Deployment of THAAD in South Korea, and the Emergency Public Campaign for the Resignation of Park Geun-hye.

“In a bid to protect the US and Japan, the Trump administration has forced South Korea to accept the THAAD deployment, which threatens our peace and security and causes serious stress and damage to our economy – and now it means to force us to pay for THAAD. This confirms once again that the THAAD deployment has been pushed through by breaking or skirting the law and through petty tricks and lies,” the groups said.

“We strongly denounce the US’s hegemonic behavior and strongly urge that the efforts to ram through the THAAD deployment be halted immediately. The officials who have taken the lead in pushing through the THAAD deployment – Blue House National Security Chief Kim Kwan-jin, Defense Minister Han Min-koo and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se – must step down at once,” the groups said.

By Kim Il-woo, Daegu correspondent in Seongju

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