SOUTH Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was pelted with eggs and water bottles yesterday by residents angry at the siting of a U.S. missile defence system in their town.
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Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn tried to explain the decision to residents but was cut across by jeers. 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 by eggs. Hwang was held in the bus for more than six hours.
Defense Minister Han Min Koo told residents Wednesday he would personally stand in front of the radars to prove they aren’t harmful.
South Korean officials said that when 38 North, a U.S.-based website monitoring the communist nation, reported early last week that there was more activity at Punggye-ri in the northwestern part of North Korea, most watchers did not pay too much attention, but they are starting to notice now.
Protests began three days ago in Seongju, located about 135 miles southeast of Seoul, where residents say the THAAD deployment will ruin the town’s economic mainstay, melon farming, and cause health and environmental hazards.
During a July 13, Hudson Institute discussion on US missile-technology preeminence, US Army Gen. Charles Jacoby, former commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), stressed the importance of deploying THAAD to protect the Korean peninsula and US interests, despite it upsetting near peers like Russian Federation and China.
Intelligence authorities are trying to determine whether they have anything to do with North Korea’s threat on July 11 of “a physical response” to the THAAD deployment in South Korea. Russian Federation also opposes the deployment.
The United States has about 28,500 troops in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea.
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A military source said that activities at Punggye-ri have increased dramatically over the past week.
