Constitutional Court Dismisses Constitutional Complaint on 'Unconstitutionality of US Providing THAAD Site'

Residents of Seongju-gun, Gyeongbuk, filed a constitutional complaint against the provisions of the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty and the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which serve as the basis for the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, but the Constitutional Court did not accept it.

Yoo Nam-seok, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, is entering the grand courtroom of the Constitutional Court in Seoul on the afternoon of the 25th to deliver the ruling on the constitutional complaint case regarding the US military's provision of the THAAD site.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 25th, the Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed the constitutional complaint filed by 392 residents of Seongju and Gimcheon regarding Article 4 of the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty, Article 2(1)(a) of SOFA, and Article 28 of SOFA.

Previously, on April 20, 2017, the SOFA Joint Committee approved the provision of part of the Seongju Skyhill Golf Course site to the U.S. Forces Korea as a THAAD site based on Article 4 of the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty.

The residents filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Foreign Affairs, demanding the cancellation of the approval for the provision of the THAAD site. However, the lawsuit was dismissed in both the first and second trials, and the decision was finalized by the Supreme Court. The court ruled that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' approval of the site provision could not be considered an "administrative disposition" subject to administrative litigation. It also pointed out that the SOFA Joint Committee was the final authority approving the use of the site by the U.S. Forces Korea, so the Minister of Foreign Affairs was not a proper party to the lawsuit.

The residents filed a constitutional complaint in February of last year, requesting a judgment on the unconstitutionality of the provisions of the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty and SOFA.

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