Yoon Geon-young Calls Yeo's Claim of "Moon Delaying THAAD Environmental Assessment" an Absurd Nitpick

The People Power Party claims that the Moon Jae-in administration deliberately delayed the environmental impact assessment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and insists that an investigation should be launched. In response, Yoon Gun-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who served as the head of the National Situation Room under the Moon administration, rebutted by calling it an "absurd nitpicking."

On the 27th, Yoon stated on his social media (SNS), "The reason the (THAAD environmental impact assessment) progress was slow was because the formation of the council itself faced difficulties," explaining the situation.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He said, "The council is supposed to include the implementing ministry, the Ministry of Environment, experts recommended by civic groups, and representatives of residents. However, due to opposition from the residents, it was impossible to appoint resident representatives, which prevented the subsequent procedures from moving forward. This is the essence of the issue," adding, "It was a process that had to be followed strictly to comply with the law."

He continued, "If we follow the People Power Party's claims, it only means that the Moon Jae-in administration did not commit any 'illegal' acts, which is the problem," and said, "Or else, why didn't they resort to the trick of inserting 'resident representatives' whose identities even the parties involved do not know, like the current Yoon Suk-yeol administration? It's ridiculous to get so worked up over that."

Yoon said, "Under the Moon Jae-in administration, THAAD operated normally. Unless the THAAD system was not functioning properly, what is the problem?" He added, "Unlike the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, which intends to discard everything the previous government did, the Moon administration, despite the decisions being made by the previous government, did its best with a responsible attitude to support normal operational use against security threats."

He continued, "We did our best to support smooth base operations. Even though the residents of Soseong-ri firmly opposed the construction of the base, on one hand, we persuaded them through dialogue, and on the other hand, we provided maximum support for construction and routine base operations," and said, "The United States even expressed gratitude for the Moon administration's comprehensive efforts to ensure the normal operation of THAAD. So what exactly was the problem?"

Yoon claimed that the People Power Party brought up the issue of the delayed THAAD environmental impact assessment as a diversion tactic to distract from the Fukushima contaminated water discharge issue. He said, "The tactic to divert attention from the Fukushima nuclear plant contaminated water discharge issue is so outdated that it only makes one sigh," adding, "Please stop unfairly nitpicking the previous administration and focus on alleviating the current public anxiety, which is what the government should be doing now."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.