Home > National > Social Affairs

Seongju County plans to dismantle protest structures near Thaad base

Published: 18 Nov. 2025, 17:20 Updated: 18 Nov. 2025, 17:28

Jinbat Bridge in Soseong-ri, Chojeon-myeon, Seongju County, North Gyeongsang, where a police outpost and an anti-Thaad protest tent stand side by side on opposite ends of the bridge. [KIM JUNG-SEOK]

A clash is expected after Seongju County in North Gyeongsang signaled it will carry out an administrative enforcement order to remove facilities set up by activists near the U.S.-led Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) antimissile system base.

According to a civic group opposing the decision on Tuesday, Seongju County notified them that at 9 a.m. on Friday it will forcibly dismantle tents, containers, portable toilets and storage units installed around Jinbat Bridge in Soseong-ri, Chojeon-myeon, as part of protests against the Thaad deployment. The county also posted the enforcement warrant on its website last Friday as a public notice.

“A corrective order was issued on Nov. 21, 2024, requiring the removal of the illegal structures by Dec. 6, but it was not carried out within the designated period,” the county said in the warrant. “We hereby inform you that enforced removal is unavoidable.”

Jinbat Peace Temple, one of the structures at the site, was set up in March 2017 by Won Buddhist clerics and local residents opposed to the deployment. The three-way intersection near Jinbat Bridge is the only land route leading up to the Thaad base and is also a pilgrimage path associated with Jeongsan, the second head dharma master of Won Buddhism.

Four structures, including the Jinbat Peace Temple, currently occupy the area. Seongju County considers them illegal facilities that have been left in place for an extended period.

Anti-Thaad activists and local residents sit down on the Jinbat Bridge in Soseong-ri, Chojeon-myeon, Seongju County, North Gyeongsang, on the morning of April 12, 2018, to block access. [NEWS1]

The civic group condemned the decision Tuesday, saying in a statement that the government “is once again declaring that it will trample on a site of prayer that has protected peace for the past decade in the face of state violence, repeating the violent history of the Park Geun-hye administration’s wrongful Thaad deployment and its continuation under the Moon Jae-in administration.”

“Seongju County is attempting to remove this prayer site under the pretext of protecting a military facility, while ignoring its history, symbolism and residents’ faith and human rights,” it added. “What is worse is that even the current government, which speaks of restoring democracy, is not stopping this.”

The groups urged the Lee Jae Myung administration to “clearly state its position on the repeated state violence surrounding the Thaad deployment and take responsible measures to halt the enforcement.”

A promotional card image released by an anti-Thaad civic group regarding the forced demolition of the Jinbat Peace Temple in Soseong-ri [JOONGANG ILBO]

Police said they plan to deploy officers on Friday in case of conflict. “We are discussing how many personnel to dispatch,” a police official said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JUNG-SEOK [[email protected]]