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| A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) launcher stands in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province in this July 29, 2017 photo. Yonhap |
By Ko Dong-hwan
The Constitutional Court of South Korea on Thursday dismissed a petition from residents near a site housing a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to outlaw its deployment.
The petition was filed in February 2022 by 392 residents of Seongju County and Gimcheon City who argued that clauses in the Mutual Defense Treaty between South Korea and the United States and the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that served as the basis for the THAAD deployment were unconstitutional.
The treaty was signed in 1953 and SOFA in 1966 to consolidate the U.S. military's presence in South Korea following the 1950-53 Korean War.
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| Residents of Seongju County and Gimcheon City in North Gyeongsang Province rally in front of the presidential office in Seoul, demanding the THAAD site in Seongju be shut down in this June 2022 photo. Yonhap |
"The Republic of Korea grants, and the United States of America accepts, the right to dispose United States land, air and sea forces in and about the territory of the Republic of Korea as determined by mutual agreement," Article IV from the treaty states.
The THAAD deployment in Seongju was based partially on that clause. In April 2017, the Korea-U.S. Joint Committee of the SOFA approved part of a golf course in Seongju as the site for the defense system against outside missile attacks ― most likely from North Korea.
The residents, following the committee's decision, sued the Korean minister of foreign affairs demanding the decision be repealed. The suit was dismissed at both district and appellate courts.
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