Rural town villagers stage anti-THAAD protest in Seoul

By Park Sae-jin Posted : July 21, 2016, 17:35 Updated : July 21, 2016, 17:35

[Yonhap News Photo]


A group of 20 protesters shaved their heads Thursday in protest at the deployment of an advanced US missile system in South Korea during a rally by about 2,000 rural town villagers.

Thousands of riot police were deployed around  the protesters from Seongju, about 219 kilometers (130 miles) southeast of Seoul, but there was no violence or arrest during the two-hour rally on the complex of Seoul's main railway station.

The protesters waved national flags and placards reading "We totally oppose THAAD deployment!" as 20 leaders, including county chief Kim Hang-gon, took the stage to have their hair cut very short in a gesture of protest. They urged South Korea to retract its decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in Seongju.
 

[Photo by Namgung Jin-woong = timeid@ajunews.com]



Last week hundreds of angry villagers pelted Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn with a volley of eggs and plastic water bottles during his visit to the town hall of Seongju.

Hwang promised to ensure that the safety and health of residents would not be hurt by strong electromagnetic waves coming from the THAAD radar, but he had been trapped in a minibus for hours.

Describing Seongju as a geographically "ideal" place to house the US missile shield and intercept North Korean ballistic missiles, military officials have stressed the selection reflected military effectiveness and the safety of residents as well. The protesters, however, argued their town would be the target of North Korean missile attacks.

Some 28,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea under a mutual defense pact dating back to the 1950-53 Korean War. The two Koreas are still technically at war with no peace treaty signed.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com 
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