THAAD Retaliation

[Anchor Lead]

China's retaliation over South Korea's deployment of the THAAD missile defense system is going beyond the economic and cultural sectors and expanding into the historical field. An event was scheduled in China to mark 100 years since the death of independence activist Lee Sang-sul. But it's been confirmed that Chinese authorities abruptly canceled the event following Seoul's decision to deploy more THAAD launchers.

[Pkg]

The town of Hanheung-dong is located in Mishan, a Chinese city bordering Russia. It was formerly the site of the first military camp town of Korea's independence movement against Japanese colonial rule. An event was scheduled this week to unveil a memorial dedicated to activist Lee Sang-sul who founded this camp to mark 100 years since his death. However, Chinese authorities abruptly canceled the event last week. The monument has now been taken off from its platform and lies on the ground. The cancellation came in the wake of South Korea's decision to deploy additional launchers of the US THAAD missile defense system following North Korea's ICBM launch.

[Soundbite] (Local Resident) : "(Do you know why the construction was halted?) Didn't THAAD enter South Korea? I heard that's why the memorial stone is covered in plastic."

The Chinese foreign ministry reportedly demanded that the provincial government call off the event.

[Soundbite] Lee Yeon-woo (Lee Sang-sul Memorial Society) : "The Chinese people also have memorials for their independence heroes. China and Korea also fought together against Japan. These issues should not be politically interpreted."

The descendants of Lee Sang-sul have expressed outrage, saying that Beijing is now exploiting even historical events for its THAAD retaliation.