Seongju Residents Close to Considering ‘Plan B’ of THAAD Location
On August 19, residents of Seongju-gun, the target venue of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, expressed that they might consider the government's plan to place the defense system to a less populated area in the county if the residents reach a consensus.
The Korea Herald reported that the local committee that heads the call for the retraction of the THAAD deployment in Seongju held an emergency meeting to talk about their initial demand to get rid of the plan entirely.
The committee was not able to reach an agreement, but they decided to further discuss the Plan B of the government to install the system in a more remote and less populated area in Seongju.
The head of the committee, Kim An-Su said, "We plan to decide on our specific plans within this week. We hope to narrow the gap between each side's positions." Kim said that the committee should conditionally agree to welcome the "alternate location" alternative, given that the ministry discards its earlier decision to install the missile system in Seongsan-ri.
Another official of the committee also told the media that the committee seems to have reached an agreement to accept the other option and discussed if the "new" location will come from them or from the ministry.
The committee is set to hold another meeting on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Defense Minister Han Min Koo encouraged the locals to reach a consensus and come up with the alternative THAAD venue suggestion.
One of the main reasons for the opposition of installing the missile defense system in Seongsan-ri is because it would sit just 1.5 kilometers from the nearest residential area. Those who are not in favor of the THAAD installation claimed that the system's AN/TPY-2 radar might cause health problems, particularly the microwave radiations, to the locals.
On Friday, Defense Minister Han and US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and talked about measures to better defend the country from the threats from North Korea. However, the ministry claims that the two did not discuss the THAAD deployment.
