THAAD Deployment

[Anchor Lead]

More THAAD missile defense launchers could be installed within the week following repreated provocations from North Korea. However a physical blockade by anti-THAAD groups may pose a factor.

[Pkg]

A vehicle with U.S. license plates enters the THAAD base in Seongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province. Residents immediately step forward, blocking the car carrying U.S. military personnel.

[Soundbite] "Get out! U.S. Army!"

Actions taken by police have also been out of the ordinary. Around 9 pm Sunday, local residents spotted five police buses deployed at both an interchange on Gyeongbu Expressway and at Gimcheon transfer station, which are gateways to the THAAD base. With a small scale environmental impact assessment on the Seongju THAAD base entering its final stage, patrols on the site in Soseongni township are also being stepped up. It's been predicted that more THAAD equipment will be brought to the site in the near future. Residents and civic groups opposing the deployment have vowed to physically block the arrival of more equipment with all their might.

[Soundbite] Gang Hyeon-wuk(Spokesman, Anti-THAAD Combined Situation Room) : "The environmental assessment is an illegal act of the past government condoned by the Moon Jae-in administration. Locals are enraged by the current government acknowledging the illegal assessment and attempting to deploy the THAAD system."

The Defense Ministry said it will announce any additional deployment a day before it occurs to local residents. But concerns are rising that a physical clash could ensue as locals attempt to block the THAAD installation.