South Korean President Park Geun-hye is defending her decision to deploy a U.S.-built missile defense system on the country’s southeastern peninsula, as protests against the plan continue.
Chairing a meeting of the National Security Council Thursday, President Park said North Korea’s growing ballistic missile capabilities left the government no choice but to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, in Seongju county.
The decision has sparked angry protests by residents in Seongju, fearing possible hazards to health and the environment from the radar-based system. Thousands of Seongju residents held a massive demonstration in Seoul Thursday
