With rising tensions in the korean peninsula, the Americans have begun to position the THAAD anti-missile system in the South. The ROK (Republic of Korea) is an ally of the US. The first set of equipment was transported by special aircraft to South Korea. The system parts were offloaded onto trailers for deployment on the golf course at Seongju. However the South Korean are not enamored of this missile defense system.
Hundreds of protesters in the town of Seongju en route to the site clashed with police on Tuesday night. The trailers carrying the components were en route to the installation area. The spokesman of the front-runner in the coming Korean presidential election Moon Jae-in has called the THAAD installation"very inappropriate."
Agitation by locals
US troops in South Korea have begun installing the equipment. This enhances South Korea's capacity to intercept missiles which could be fired from the North. Information has been received that trailers carrying parts of the system included long-range X-band radar were taken to the installation site.
The Pentagon has stated we are working with the ROK to complete the deployment of THAAD defensive weapon system.
The implementation has met with opposition from the local people who have protested in the town of Seongju. They carried placards reading" no THAAD but peace." The protesters surrounded the trailers. Riot police stopped them. In the scuffles that followed, it is reported that ten people were injured. Some of the protesters even suffered broken bones.
North belligerence
Tensions have escalated between Washington and Pyongyang in recent weeks. The US has also deployed an aircraft carrier group along with a nuclear submarine in the area. There are reports that Kim Jong the North Korean Dictator is going ahead with his 6th nuclear test.
The Korean dictator continues his WMD weapons program. The anti-missile system has not been liked by China which feels the powerful radar is a security threat. Russia supports China in this matter
Tension for last 67 years
The agitators are local villages but there is a sprinkling of outsiders, and this is very dangerous. The locals who are protesting do not want to get involved in a war with the.North Korea. They feel the presence of the missile system will be an invitation to the north to bomb the area. The Korean Peninsula had seen tension and war from 1950 when North Korea invaded the South.
As it stands, almost 30,000 US troops remain in the South around the DMZ. It will be interesting to watch how Trump reacts to the agitation by local South Korean villagers against the installation of the THAAD missile shield. How effective it will be in a real war scenario has to be seen.