“We need to show our determination in order to stop Thaad”, the protesters chanted, as men and women, some in tears, had their heads shaved at a local park. “We can not protest any bigger”.
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North Korea launched its fourth nuclear test this January and has run other missile tests since then.
South Korea’s president Monday defended the proposed deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system as an act of self-defense against North Korea, as hundreds of residents shaved their heads in protest at the plan.
Since Seoul and Washington announced they would import a Thaad battery last month, China has bristled, saying the system is designed for the U.S.to monitor its air space with its advanced radar system, an argument denied by the two allies.
The minister also said the government is open to suggestions, and will consider a different site, given that Seongju residents can agree on an alternative option. China angrily rejected the verdict and has vowed to continue developing man-made islands that the US says have exacerbated tensions in the strategically crucial region.
Earlier this week, hundreds of Seongju county residents shaved their heads in protest against the planned THAAD deployment.
“THAAD should not be deployed at all, not just in Seongju, but anywhere in South Korea”, one 63-year-old farmer told Reuters.
On Monday more than 900 Seongju residents had their heads shaved, a symbol of protest and determination.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system is to be deployed in Seonjgu, in the south east of the country, the move is in response to North Korea’s repeated missile test launches.
Still, Park emphasized the need to take the South Korea-Japan relationship to a higher stage, as a South Korean foundation to support former comfort women was established in late July, based on a landmark bilateral deal, struck on December 28, 2015, to “finally and irreversibly” resolve the comfort women issue.
In 2014, a U.N. Commission of Inquiry issued a report documenting North Korea’s pervasive and systematic human rights atrocities, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, beatings, forced starvation, sexual assault, forced labor and torture.
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There are five THAAD batteries – each of about 100 soldiers – assigned to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.
