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A woman stands outside the Blue House with a sign reading

On Sept. 8, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that pushing ahead with deploying the remaining four THAAD launchers at the Seongju base in North Gyeongsang province the previous day was “the best course of action available to the South Korean government in the current situation” and asked for “the Korean people’s understanding on this point.”

These remarks were contained in a document titled “The President’s Position on the THAAD Deployment,” which Moon released at 8:50 pm on Sept. 8, after concluding his visit to Russia and returning to South Korea on the evening of Sept. 7. Amid increasing public criticism over the abrupt completion of the THAAD battery’s deployment while Moon was out of the country, he took the step of personally releasing a position statement.

Moon appears to have asked for the public’s understanding as an attempt to circumvent public criticism by appealing directly to the people. Moon remained silent on Sept. 8 (the day after he returned home from Russia) without scheduling any official meetings or giving a press conference. It was not until 8:50 pm that he released his written position statement. This was over five hours after a high-ranking official at the Blue House directly rebutted criticism that the THAAD deployment was inconsistent with Moon’s campaign pledges. “We will provide the public with any good news we may get, but given the extremely complicated nature of this issue, it’s unclear when that may happen,” the Blue House initially said. But Moon’s decision to abruptly release his position late in the evening appears to have been prompted by the fierce backlash from Seongju residents, civic groups, religious organizations and his supporters to his about-face on the THAAD deployment, which he had consistently criticized during the presidential race.

On Sept. 8, the head of the Emergency Committee for Defending Sacred Sites of Won Buddhism in Seongju protested in front of the Blue House, saying that “it seems like Park Geun-hye is back” and accusing Moon of betraying the spirit of the candlelit rallies. According to sources in the Blue House, this protest left an impression on Moon, who had thought he had done enough to persuade the Seongju residents and organizations opposing the THAAD deployment, but realized he may not have done so for Won Buddhists. The growing dissatisfaction about the fact that the THAAD deployment was abruptly wrapped up while Moon was on a trip to Russia also appears to have given more ammunition to Moon’s advisors, who were urging him to release a position statement.

“Even at such a late hour, we thought it was right for the president to offer this kind of explanation to the people” about why he was forced to push ahead with the temporary deployment of THAAD, a senior official at the Blue House said when asked why Moon had released the position statement. Reportedly, Moon personally edited the first draft of the statement aimed at seeking the public’s understanding.

In the position statement, Moon emphasized the inevitability of the THAAD deployment, which he had concluded was “the best course of action available to the South Korean government in the current situation.” After North Korea’s successful test launch of an ICBM capable of striking Los Angeles and other cities on the US mainland magnified the sense of crisis in the US, Washington appears to have cranked up pressure on Seoul to deploy THAAD. This is also backed up by what a senior official at the Blue House said before Moon released his statement:

“I think you’d have to conclude that this took place because of pressure and cooperation in the South Korea-US alliance.” Another factor that apparently played a role was the pragmatic recognition that, while the THAAD deployment was begun during the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye, it was still an intergovernmental agreement, and such agreements cannot be easily reversed.

It’s also notable that Moon bowed to demands to openly review the results of the small-scale environmental impact assessment that provided the main justification for the deployment while reiterating once again that “the THAAD deployment is a temporary measure taken in light of the gravity and the urgency of the security situation.” This represents a kind of compromise aimed at securing “procedural legitimacy.” “Our position remains that we will decide whether to officially deploy THAAD based on the results of the general environmental impact assessment,” said a high-ranking official at the Blue House.

By Lee Jung-ae and Jung Yu-hung, staff reporters

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