Angry residents in a rural South Korean town yesterday threw eggs and water bottles at the prime minister to protest a plan to deploy an advanced US missile defense system in their neighborhood.
Earlier this week, South Korea announced that the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system would be placed in the southeastern farming town of Seongju by the end of next year to better cope with North Korean threats.
Seongju residents launched protests, saying they fear possible health hazards from the missile system.
Photo: AFP
South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, accompanied by South Korean Minister of Defense Han Min-koo and others, tried to explain the decision to residents, but was immediately disrupted by jeers.
Some hurled eggs and water bottles, shouting: “We oppose [the THAAD deployment] with our lives,” TV footage showed.
Hwang did not appear to be directly hit by any objects, as security guards and aides used umbrellas and bags to protect him, but his suit jacket was covered with eggs and he fled to a town hall office.
When he and the others moved from the building into a bus, they were surrounded by hundreds of protesters, some driving tractors.
South Korean officials have dismissed as groundless a belief that THAAD radar systems emit electromagnetic waves that can cause health problems.
Defense officials said the US system is harmless if people stay at least 100m away from it.
Seongju residents criticized the government for unilaterally deciding on the deployment without consulting them.
About 200 Seongju residents protested at the South Korean Ministry of Defense in Seoul on Wednesday, while others wrote letters of complaint in blood.
A group of 13 local leaders went on a hunger strike.
Han on Wednesday told residents he would stand in front of the radars to prove they are not harmful.
The planned missile deployment drew an angry response from North Korea and China.
North Korea has threatened unspecified “physical” measures in retaliation, while China suspects the system would help US radars track its missiles.
Russia has also expressed itsw opposition to the deployment.
US and South Korean officials have said the THAAD system only targets North Korea, not China or anyone else.
Seoul and Washington began their formal discussions on the THAAD deployment after North Korea conducted a fourth nuclear test and carried about a long-range rocket launch earlier this year.
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