South Korean people protest against US missile base

South Koreans have been protesting against a US missile base south of the capital, Seoul. They want the base, and US troops, gone as tensions grow with the North on the Korean Peninsula.

The system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, was deployed in early 2017.

US officials claim it protects against missiles fired from North Korea. Local residents argue it generates warlike tension and want it removed. Anti-THAAD protesters have held a rally near the base in Seongju, 250 kilometers south of Seoul.

The government has indicated it would make the base permanent, and President Yoon Suk-yeol has suggested the country may get a second THAAD system.”These villagers and their supporters recognize that hosting a missile base makes their home a prime target. Not only for North Korea, but also for China, as Thaad’s radar also reaches into Chinese territory.”

The THAAD base occupies a former mountain golf course and is near a Won Buddhist temple, whose monks also oppose the missile base.