Can THAAD withstand residents' protests?

A member of a civic group speaks during a press conference in protest against the U.S. and Korea’s decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) here, in front of the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan, central Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap

By Lee Kyung-min

The official announcement of deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in Korea is bringing a huge backlash from residents of areas which are rumored to be candidate sites for the system.

People in the regions claim the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) will pose serious health risks to them and environmental damage due to strong electromagnetic waves.

Immediately after the announcement Friday, residents in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and Waegwan of Chilgok County in North Gyeongsang Province, the two key candidate locations, expressed vehement opposition.

A coalition of 25 civic groups in Pyeongtaek, where the United States Forces Korea (USKF) headquarters will be moved, said they will hold a press conference on July 19 to announce their protest plans to block the possible deployment there.

“The noise and electromagnetic waves emanating from THAAD radar will pose grave health threats to residents here,” the coalition said in a statement.

It said THAAD would cause various domestic and diplomatic problems, claiming the defense system could be used as a means of surveillance against China and Russia, which oppose the deployment.

“THAAD could have a negative influence on the local economy in our city, and cause instability on the Korean Peninsula,” it added.

Chilgok County government and city council and residents echoed the view.

“THAAD should not be deployed in Chilgok, a densely populated village with 130,000 residents, but in regions with smaller population,” the local government and council said in a joint statement.

“Electromagnetic waves pose great harm to the human body. The radar is known to negatively affect objects within a distance of 5.5 kilometers of the radar’s face,” they said.

The residents in the region said they refuse to fall victim to the government’s grand scheme to protect the nation’s security, saying they had to suffer in a 2011 incident when three U.S. veterans disclosed that they buried defoliant Agent Orange at Camp Carroll more than three decades ago.

Villagers had to undergo health checkups at that time to verify whether the defoliant leaked into the land and water nearby and caused illnesses.

“We did not speak up at that time and lived quietly for the love of our city, but we cannot do so this time,” one of the residents said.

North Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kwan-yong issued a statement, vowing to take all measures to stop THAAD frombeing deployed in Chilgok.

“Residents in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province will not condone the government’s move to push ahead with the plan without offering details on the process in a fair and transparent manner to us, who will be directly affected,” he said

Residents of Eumseong County in North Chungcheong Province, where the Korean Army’s missile command is located, also expressed opposition.

Already, they set up an anti-THAAD deployment committee and issued a statement Monday, and plan to hold a public rally on Sunday with some 2,000 participants.

They are also collecting signatures from 10,000 residents in protest against the deployment scheme.

“We will keep our eyes on this matter until the defense ministry finalizes the location. We will keep fighting against the move,” a committee member said.

Other rumored candidate locations include Wonju in Gangwon Province and Gunsan in North Jeolla Province.

The high-tech antiballistic-missile interception system deployment came amid evolving nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, following test firings of Musudan missiles in late June.