SEONGJU, SOUTH KOREA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Hope and concern co-exited among South Korean residents living in a little, peaceful village where the U.S. missile shield, called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), is set to be deployed as early as next month.
Five trucks loaded with unidentified equipments attempted Wednesday to pass through the entrance road to the golf course in the Soseong-ri village, in which Seoul and Washington agreed to install one THAAD battery.
The attempt was thwarted by villagers and civic group activists, the number of them reaching about 100, as they sat in the middle of the road to block what the defense ministry said were the trucks carrying machines necessary for an environmental evaluation.
The attempts were made twice early in the morning and at about noon Wednesday, but the trucks returned back in the end, leading the villagers, mostly those in their 70s and 80s, to feel jubilant over their first victory.
"Grandpas and grandmas living here felt happy after the trucks came back," one of advocacy group activists who joined the anti-THAAD protest, told Xinhua on Thursday at the village which has a population of about 160.
The activist said almost 400 police officers surrounded the villagers and anti-THAAD activists, threatening to make them dispersed forcibly for what the police claimed was the violation of law.
Despite the threats, there was no violence or clash between them reported on the day.
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