South Korea's vice defense chief who was appointed under the new government made his sincere apology to residents on Tuesday for the previous government's unilateral push for the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile interception system in their hometown.
The residents urged the visiting vice minister to thoroughly investigate any procedural illegitimacy in the process of the unilateral installation in a bid to go toward the retreat of the U.S. weapons system.
Vice Defense Minister Suh Choo-suk and three other defense ministry officials held talks with about 40 residents at the village hall of Soseong-ri in Seongju county, North Gyeongsang province, according to a statement from an organization composed of Seongju and Gimcheon city residents and anti-THAAD peace activists.
During the one-and-a-half-hour meeting, Suh vowed to continuously communicate with residents to reflect opinion of residents in countermeasures while sufficiently consulting with them to proceed with any procedures.
The vice defense minister apologized to residents for the previous government's unilateral push for the deployment of the U.S. missile shield, according to the statement. The meeting was held behind closed doors.
The residents living near a golf course in southeast South Korea, where the part of the THAAD battery was already installed, welcomed the vice minister's promise of communications, hoping to more closely communicate with the government.
Under the previous Park Geun-hye administration, South Korea and the United States announced a joint decision in July last year to deploy one THAAD battery, causing strong backlash from peace activists as well as the residents.
In the past year, the residents and peace activists have held a protest rally every night to demand the reversal of the U.S. weapons deployment decision.
About two weeks before the presidential by-election on May 9, caused by Park's impeachment over a corruption scandal, two mobile launchers were transported in the middle of night to the golf course.
Four more launchers were delivered to a U.S. military base near the golf course, but it was not reported to President Moon Jae-in who took office on May 10. Moon has ordered a thorough investigation into the unreported delivery.
One THAAD battery is composed of six mobile launchers, 48 interceptors, the AN/TPY-2 radar and the fire and control unit.
The statement said the residents delivered their clear message to the vice minister, in which they said the THAAD is not capable of defending against any nuclear missile of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
THAAD is designed to intercept incoming missiles at an altitude of 40-150 km. Most of DPRK missiles targeting the South Korean territory fly at an altitude of less than 40 km.
The U.S. missile interception system, deployed in the golf course, is incapable of protecting the capital city of Seoul and its adjacent Gyeonggi province, where almost half of the country's 50 million population resides.
The statement said the THAAD in South Korea was aimed to protect the United States and Japan, not South Korea, while making sure that the THAAD deployment would not become a fundamental way to resolve the DPRK's nuclear issue.
Seongju and Gimcheon residents called for Suh to thoroughly look into all procedures ranging from the deployment decision to the unreported delivery, demanding the transparent disclosure of probe findings and the punishment of those involved in any wrongdoing.
In response, the vice defense chief said President Moon Jae-in had already ordered an investigation, promising to thoroughly investigate all procedures and disclose the probe findings as transparently as possible after review.
He also vowed to allow residents to participate in the environment impact assessment on the U.S. weapons system.
The residents demanded an immediate stop of the THAAD operation and the construction inside the site, but the vice minister did not make any specific comment on it.
They urged the South Korean government to repeal the THAAD deployment decision by taking the opportunity of the upcoming summit meeting between President Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Moon is scheduled to leave for Washington on Wednesday to hold his first summit meeting with President Trump for two days from June 29.
The THAAD issue is widely expected to be on the top of the dialogue agenda for the two leaders.
