South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Thursday that a shift in the designated area within Seongju county where the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) will be deployed can be reviewed.
Park held a meeting in the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae with first-term lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party who were elected in the April general elections from South Gyeongsang province where the Seongju county is located.
According to the participants quoted by local media reports, President Park said that if there is any other place recommended by Seongju residents, a new site can be closely and precisely investigated and reviewed inside the Seongju county in consideration of worries among Seongju locals.
Local residents will be notified in details of the results of the investigation and review over whether the new site is appropriate, Park said.
Park's comments came amid growing outcry among residents in the county, some 250 km southeast of Seoul, where South Korea and the United States agreed earlier last month to deploy one THAAD battery by the end of next year.
Seongju locals have held a candlelight rally every night to protest against the THAAD deployment, with some farmers plowing down their own fields of oriental melon and watermelon, the economic mainstay in the region.
Following Park's comments, Seoul's defense ministry said that if Seongju county requests a review over the availability of a new site, the ministry will examine it according to its own assessment standards.
