Han was meeting with locals in Seongju, the proposed location for the USA missiles, who are vehemently opposed to having them in their backyard.
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The current site in a mountainous region of Seongju country near South Korea’s south-eastern coast, about 296 km southeast of Seoul, is now being used as a South Korean air defence base. Of those on the committee 23 agreed to host THAAD at a different site, one opposed and nine abstained from voicing their views.
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”.
“In the face of North Korea’s serious and growing nuclear and missile threats, the decision to deploy THAAD was the least measure that could be taken to protect the South Korean people”.
The committee, however, didn’t offer its own recommendations on an alternate site, leaving the decision up to the defense ministry.
Deployment of THAAD would pose potential threats to Pyongyang, Beijing, Moscow and even Tokyo.
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.
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On Friday, the committee held a meeting where participants said a new site can be examined if the defense ministry scraps its original plan for Seongsan-ri which is relatively close to Seongju town. A nearby golf course is emerging as a possible alternative site for the advanced air defence system. His mission was to listen to and answer the concerns of local residents, who are upset about the government’s unilateral decision and are anxious about potential health and environmental risks posed by radiation from the site.
