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Religious hold a prayer meeting in front of the Soseong Village Community Center in Seongju County

Seongju residents and civic groups opposing the THAAD deployment plan to continue blocking the delivery of construction equipment, materials, and oil to the antimissile base from the road outside the Soseong Village Community Center in Seongju county, North Gyeongsang province. The plan comes even after the deployment of a full THAAD battery was completed with the delivery of an additional four launchers. Residents also plan to launch the “Blue Butterfly Expedition,” traveling around the country by bus to call for the THAAD system’s dismantling.

National Action to Stop the THAAD Deployment in Korea, the Gimcheon Citizens’ Countermeasures Committee to Oppose the THAAD Deployment, and the Emergency Committee for Defending Sacred Sites of Won Buddhism were among the civic groups holding a press conference in front of the Blue House fountain in Seoul at 1 pm on Sept. 8 to criticize the Moon Jae-in administration for going ahead with the additional THAAD deployment. At 1:30 pm the same day, religious leaders held a joint prayer meeting on the front lawn of the Soseong Village Community Center to pledge to “work with all of you in eradicating THAAD from this land and guarding peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

The Soseong Village Situation Room currently plans to continue blocking construction equipment, materials, fuel, and US troops traveling up from the road in the village to the THAAD base, which occupies a former golf course site on Dalma Mountain. Regular demonstrations at 2 pm on Wednesdays and candlelight gatherings at 8 pm on Saturdays continue to be held on the village center’s front lawn.

“THAAD may have been deployed, but we will continue fighting to have it taken down,” said Kang Hyun-wook, a Won-Buddhist cleric serving as a representative for the Situation Room, which is operated jointly by six groups opposing the deployment.

The Seongju Committee to Fight for the THAAD Withdrawal also plans to organize a Blue Butterfly Expedition campaign. The idea was inspired by Seongju residents who pinned ribbons shaped like blue butterflies to their chests while battling to oppose the deployment. The campaign involves purchasing a used bus to travel around South Korea.

“We’re going to travel around the country letting people know that THAAD is a weapon South Korea doesn’t need,” said Kim Choong-hwan, head of the Seongju Committee’s standing committee.

Police released Gimcheon Citizens’ Committee joint chairman Park Hee-ju and one other civic group member on the evening of Sept. 7 after arresting and questioning them early that morning on charges of obstructing the exercise of official duties during the THAAD launcher deployment. The same evening, they released four civic group members booked for illegal entry of public property after entering the base on the afternoon of Sept. 6 to chant their opposition to the THAAD system.

By Kim Il-woow, Daegu correspondent

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