Seongju Residents Agree to 'Plan B' Concerning THAAD Deployment

On Sunday, local residents of Seongju-gun, North Gyeongsang Province have finally reached a consensus to ask the Defense Ministry to study another location aside from Seongsan-Ri to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

The Korea Herald reported that the committee on the retraction of the THAAD deployment in Seongju held an emergency meeting yesterday afternoon and favored the "alternate location" alternative that the South Korean earlier suggested. The decision of the local committee was different from their initial stand that the government should not continue its plans regarding the THAAD deployment.

The committee announced, "The 33 executive members of the committee present at the meeting reached an agreement to request the Defense Ministry to suggest an alternate site to deploy the THAAD system."

The decision was reached after obtaining 23 votes in support, one opposition vote, and nine abstentions.

The committee also mentioned that it accepted that Defense Ministry's deployment of the system as long as it will be deployed in an area where its electromagnetic waves will not endanger the people who live nearby. The South Korean government and the United States earlier claimed that there is no health risk in the THAAD deployment.

The government, together with the United States, originally planned to place the anti-missile defense system on a Korean artillery base located in Seongsan-Ri in Seongju. The site is approximately 1.5 kilometers from one of the most populous towns in Seongju, Seongsan-eup, which has an estimated 14,000 residents.

A committee member said, "The committee opened a county-wide meeting on Thursday to receive all opinions, and held meetings on Saturday and Sunday. There were those who wanted to keep asking the government to scrap all plans t deploy THAAD in Seongju, but the committee decided on its official position on Sunday."

The Defense Ministry has yet to address the request and said that it will make a statement once they receive an official request from the Seongju county office. The county office is expected to submit the official request on Monday.

Last week, Minister of Defense Han Min Koo said that they will consider another location for the anti-missile defense system if the residents of Seongju reach a consensus and suggest another potential site.