hankyoreh

A elderly woman in Seongju

“Today marks one year since the candles were first lit in Seongju. As chairman of the Seongju struggle committee, I find it shameful that after a year of fighting, the THAAD deployment is going forward, never mind being withdrawn. But I believe history always ends up on the right side.”

Lee Jong-hee, the 59-year-old co-chairperson of the Seongju Committee Fighting for Withdrawal of the THAAD Deployment, was speaking at the 33rd anti-THAAD Wednesday demonstration at 2pm on July 12 on the front lawn of the Soseong village center in Chojeon, a township in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, where Lee resides. The day marked one year since Seongju residents began their fight against the THAAD deployment. Around 100 residents and others turned out for the demonstration despite the blistering heat. Since the THAAD deployment in Seongju was announced last year, residents have been gathering to hold demonstrations against THAAD – daily since July 13 in Seongju township, and weekly on Wednesday since Nov. 30 at the Soseong village center.

“We’re facing a crisis with the THAAD deployment, but while the government forces and citizen volunteers were fighting as a team before, now the government forces have fled,” recalled the committee’s other co-chair, 57-year-old Suryun township resident Kim Choong-hwan, of the past year’s events. “The candles in Seongju now are a reflection of that lone battle by citizen soldiers.”

When the Ministry of National Defense first announced on July 13, 2016, that the THAAD system would be deployed at an Air Force artillery site on Seongju township’s Seongsan Mountain (383m), Seongju county chief Kim Hang-gon (Liberty Korea Party) joined in the resident’s anti-THAAD battle. Around 2,000 residents came together every evening for demonstrations against THAAD. Over time, Kim dropped out of the battle, and the number of demonstration participants dwindled to around 100. On Sep. 30 of last year, the ministry altered the THAAD deployment site from Seongsan to Dalma Mountain (680m), where the Seongju golf course was located.

North Gyeongsang Province during a protest against the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system

As the resident’s struggle passed from its beginnings last summer through winter and into summer again, large shade canopies have gone up on the Soseong village center front lawn. On one of the traffic lanes in front of the center, 18 red flags have been raised bearing the words “We oppose THAAD.” It’s the same road used early in the morning on Apr. 26 by the Ministry of National Defense for a surprise delivery of X-band radar and two launchers to Dalma Mountain and the golf course site. Since Apr. 28, residents have set out tables and chairs to watch for vehicles coming and going.

“We’ve been fighting like this for a year now, and it’s not clear how much longer we’re going to have to keep at it,” said 39-year-old Seongju township resident Bae Mi-yeong.

“I’d like to believe the Moon Jae-in administration intends to reverse the THAAD deployment, but I’m worried it’s going to be swayed by the US’s power logic and won’t be able to reverse it.”

On July 12, the area around the Soseong village community center was strung with banners made by Seongju residents and others, with messages such as “We resolutely oppose THAAD deployment in clean Seongju County” and “Back to the US with THAAD, which threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula.” Between those banners was another reading “Free President Park Geun-hye,” attributed to the Gangwon branch of the “South Korean Flag New Patriotism Saenuri Party.”

The group Nationwide Action to Stop the THAAD Deployment in South Korea lodged a request the same afternoon with the Board of Audit and Inspection demanding a “thorough investigation of the entire unclear process from the THAAD deployment decision to the deployment.” The 428 names listed on the request include residents of Seongju and Gimcheon, Won-Buddhists, and residents. At 7:30 that evening, Seongju residents held a candlelight demonstration against the THAAD deployment in the parking lot across from Seongju County Office.

By Kim Il-woo, Daegu correspondent, and Park Su-ji, staff reporter

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