US adds launchers to THAAD as dozens hurt in SKorea protests
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Dozens of people were injured in clashes between South Korean protesters and police Thursday as the U.S. military added more launchers to the high-tech missile-defence system it installed in a southern town to better cope with North Korean threats.
Seoul has hardened its stance against Pyongyang after its torrent of weapons tests, the latest a detonation Sunday of what North Korea said was a thermonuclear weapon built for missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
The clashes came as South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe met in eastern Russia and repeated their calls for stronger punishment of North Korea over its nuclear ambitions, including denying the country oil supplies. The demand contradicted the stance of their host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in an earlier meeting with Moon dismissed sanctions as a solution.
In the rural town of Seongju, thousands of police officers in riot gear swarmed some 400 protesters who since Wednesday night had been occupying a road leading to a former golf course where the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence System is installed.