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Seongju residents gather on Aug. 30 after receiving letters from the Defense Ministry concerning the proposed deployment of four additional THAAD missile launchers. The sign is calling for those opposed to THAAD missile deployment to come to Soseong-ri

Groups opposing the THAAD deployment are up in arms after revelations that Minister of Defense Song Young-moon sent a letter to Seongju and Gimcheon residents asking them for their “understanding” on the antimissile system’s temporary deployment.

Groups working to oppose the THAAD deployment reported on Aug. 30 that Ministry of Defense officials, including active colonels and lieutenant colonels in the military, had traveled to the homes of around 20 people on Aug. 23--25 to deliver the letter from Song.

The homes included those of the leaders of seven villages in the Seongju and Gimcheon areas, as well as the chairs of senior citizens’ and women’s associations, the groups said.

The letter stated that the temporary THAAD deployment was “unavoidable for a priority response to the North Korean threat.”

“A temporary deployment means temporarily installing THAAD in open terrain with minimal preparations based on a small-scale environmental impact assessment, as opposed to completing the deployment after a general environmental impact assessment and the building of a permanently infrastructure,” it explained.

In the letter, Song went on to say that THAAD deployment area was to be “used purely as a missile operations base” and would “not have a large US Forces Korea presence stationed, which means there will be little impact on the surrounding environment.”

“THAAD is a minimal shield against the North Korean nuclear missile threat, and it has been demonstrated clearly in technological terms that its military efficacy is very high and that the noise and electromagnetic waves are in no way harmful to the human body,” the letter continued.

Local residents and groups opposing THAAD gathered at the Soseong village community center in Seongju that afternoon to voice their objections.

“Even the Moon Jae-in administration is trying to push through additional THAAD launcher deployments in defiance of the same procedural legitimacy and democratic deliberation it put so much emphasis on in the past,” residents said, pledging to “do everything in our power to stop this.”

The residents and groups also agreed to gather up and send back all of the letters sent by Song. They went on to declare an inaugural period of “emergency citizen action to block additional THAAD launcher deployments” from Aug. 30 to Sept. 6.

By Ku Dae-seon, staff reporter

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