Stop THAAD Missile Deployment in Korea: Seongju City People’s Protest
April 10 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Boston College, Devlin 101
With:
- Sounghey Kim, Co-Chair of the Seongju County Struggle Committee to Stop THAAD
- Theodore Postol, PhD, Professor, Science, Technology, and International Security, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Juyeon Rhee, Korea Policy Institute; Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea, New York
Moderators: M. Brinton Lykes, Co-Director of the CHRIJ, and Ramsay Liem, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Boston College
In the midst of political upheaval and transition in South Korea, advances in North Korea’s nuclear program, and uncertainty about the Trump administration’s policy in Northeast Asia, citizens in Seongju, South Korea, have stepped up their eight-month opposition to the installation of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in their city. The U.S. and South Korea claim THAAD is necessary to defend against North Korean ballistic missiles but locals fear its environmental effects, claim that the real target is China, and believe it makes them ground zero for counterattacks. Learn about this struggle from the front line activism of Ms. Sounghey Kim, a leader of the peoples’ movement to oppose the deployment of THAAD, comprised of citizens from numerous sectors of Seongju County. Also hear the views of Ted Postol, professor of Science, Technology, and International Security at MIT, about THAAD and US missile defense systems. Professor Postol has written widely about these systems and participated in high-level consultations with government officials in South Korea.
The program is part of a U.S. national tour, Stop THAAD in Korea, sponsored by the Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea and Militarism in Asia and the Pacific with support from the Korea Policy Institute, Channing and Popai Liem Education Foundation, and Global Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. Juyeon Rhee, an organizer for the Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea, is accompanying Rev. Kim and will comment on the broader U.S./Korea alliance that forms the context for this latest conflict.
About the speakers:
Sounghey Kim
Ms Kim is a staunch advocate of peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula. Since July 13, 2016, her days have revolved around the candlelight vigils against THAAD Deployment, standing with the residents of Seongju County. Currently she is a co-chair of the Seongju Struggle Committee to Stop THAAD Deployment. She dreams of reunification through peaceful dialogue, and is working for it. Most recently, she has been participating in an overnight sit-in at the bridge to the Lotte Golf Course, the site of the proposed THAAD deployment currently underway. In light of the recent impeachment and dismissal of South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye, the U.S. and ROK military command are rushing to complete the installation of THAAD before the election of a new president this coming May.
Theodore Postol
Dr. Postol received his undergraduate degree in physics and his PhD in nuclear engineering from MIT. Postol worked at Argonne National Laboratory, where he studied the microscopic dynamics and structure of liquids and disordered solids using neutron, X-ray and light scattering techniques, along with molecular dynamics simulations . He also worked at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, where he studied methods of basing the MX missile, and later worked as a scientific adviser to the Chief of Naval Operations.
After leaving the Pentagon, Postol helped build a program at Stanford University to train mid-career scientists to study weapons technology in relation to defense and arms control policy. In 1990, Postol received the Leo Szilard Prize from the American Physical Society. In 1995, he received the Hilliard Roderick Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and in 2001, he received the Norbert Wiener Award from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility for “uncovering numerous and important false claims about missile defenses.” On September 28, 2016 the Federation of American Scientists awarded Professor Theodore Postol from MIT their annual Richard L. Garwin Award for his work in assessing and critiquing the government’s claims about missile defense.
Juyeon Rhee
Juyeon is a first generation immigrant, living in metropolitan New York area. She is a volunteer organizer of the Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea. Juyeon is a member of Nodutdol for Korean Community Development and a board member at Korea Policy Institute. Her work is focused on de-militarization of the U.S. and peace and unification of Korea.
Event sponsored by the Center for Human Rights and International Justice and the Channing and Popai Liem Education Foundation.
Co-Sponsored by the BC Asian American Studies Program, International Korean Students Organization, Korean Students Association, and BC Peace Action.
Other supporting organizations: American Friends Service Committee Peace & Economic Security Program; Massachusetts Peace Action; United for Justice with Peace.
For additional infomation on Stop THAAD or the event, contact: M. Brinton Lykes at lykes@bc.edu, or Ramsay Liem at liem@bc.edu.
RSVP for this event at http://www.bc.edu/centers/humanrights/events.html (scroll down to “Stop THAAD Missile Deployment in Korea: Seongju County People’s Protest”)
--
Cole Harrison
Executive Director
Massachusetts Peace Action
11 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138
w: 617-354-2169
m: 617-466-9274
f: /masspeaceaction
t: @masspeaceaction
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