Seoul, South Korea. Violence broke out in South Korea as America started deploying missile systems on South Korean soil. Seems not everybody believes American intentions on the Korean peninsular are pure.
10 plus protesters were injured during clashes with police, Kim Jong-kyung, co-head of a group of villagers protesting the American missile deployment, told reporters. Kim said about 200 protesters, mostly residents in two towns near the missile site, rallied overnight and would remain near the location.
“We will continue our fight and there’s still time for the American missiles to be actually up and running so we will fight until equipment is withdrawn from the site and ask South Korea’s new government to reconsider the plan,” Kim told Reuters by telephone.
A police official in Seongju, a town where the American missiles are located, said police had pulled out from the location, and were unaware of reports of injuries.
Washington and Pyongyang have been turning up pressure on each other in recent weeks, with the United States sending a aircraft carrier strike group and nuclear submarines to the region and North Korea attempting more missile launches in defiance of layers of UN sanctions.
North Korea’s news agency said on Wednesday leader Kim Jong Un had supervised the country’s “largest-ever” live-fire drill to mark the 85th founding anniversary of its military, with more than 300 artillery guns demonstrating their fire power at an event on its east coast.
The drill came instead of a nuclear test or the launch of a long-range missile as feared amid pressure from the United States and China, its sole major ally which has been irritated by Pyongyang’s weapons development.