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Seongju residents and religious groups voice their opposition to the THAAD deployment at an Aug. 10 press conference at the Soseong village community center to “announce of a position on the testing survey for the Ministry of Environment’s illegal small-scale environment impact assessment of the THAAD site.”(by Paik So-a

A plan to measure electromagnetic waves and noise from the THAAD system radar deployed in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, was postponed once again on Aug. 10.

The plan’s postponement was the second, after a previous one on July 21.

“A site survey for a small-scale environmental impact assessment planned for today in connection with the US Forces Korea THAAD system deployment issue is to be rescheduled separately and reattempted after it was determined that there needs to be additional cooperation with local residents and civic groups,” Ministry of National Defense deputy spokesperson Lee Jin-woo said in an Aug. 10 press briefing.

The Ministry of National Defense had initially planned to join the Ministry of Environment that day in a measurement of electromagnetic waves and noise from the THAAD radar – part of the procedure for a small-scale environmental impact assessment on the deployment area.

But when resident objections at the scene that morning proved fiercer than anticipated, the decision was made that there was “no reason to go overboard,” a Ministry of National Defense official said.

In a separate position statement, the ministry said it planned to “pursue a site survey to examine the small-scale environmental impact assessment results according to a separate future plan,” adding that a USFK general was scheduled to apologize at that time for “the careless actions shown by USFK soldiers during the equipment movement process on Apr. 26.” USFK soldiers were previously condemned for their “disdainful” behavior during the driving of THAAD launcher vehicles to the Seongju golf course site in April, including grinning and taking pictures of the clash between police and residents trying to stop the delivery.

At around 9 am on Aug. 10, a press conference to demand a halt to the small-scale environment impact assessment was held on the road in front of the Soseong village community center in Seongju’s Chojeon township. Groups participating in the press conference included the Seongju Committee to Fight for the THAAD Deployment’s Withdrawal, the Gimcheon Citizen Countermeasures Committee Opposing the THAAD Deployment, the Won-Buddhist Emergency Countermeasures Committee to Guard the Holy Ground in Seongju, National Action to Stop the THAAD Deployment in South Korea, the Daegu/North Gyeongsang Countermeasures Committee Opposing the THAAD Deployment, and the tentatively named Busan/Ulsan/South Gyeongsang Countermeasures Committee to Stop the THAAD Deployment.

The groups called for an “immediate halt to all attempts to legitimize the small-scale environmental impact assessment, a stop to the operation of THAAD and construction for it, and a strategic environmental impact assessment once THAAD equipment has been removed from the site.”

By Park Byong-soo, senior staff writer and Daegu correspondent in Seongju