Shout for 'Stop THAAD' echoes non-stop rally in S. Korean little, peaceful village

The Gyeongsang province, including the county, had been a traditional support base for the impeached president and her party, which recently changed its name into the Liberty Korea Party.

The THAAD deployment decision affected the daily life of all Seongju residents. Bang said he postponed the open date of his bakery for six months because of the THAAD outbreak.

Many local farmers reduced the scale of Korean melon farming to make their protest known to the public across the country.

The bakery was decorated with blue and yellow ribbons, which symbolize the anti-THAAD protest and the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster. On April 16, 2014, the passenger vessel capsized and sank in waters off the southwest coast, claiming over 300 lives, mostly high school students on a school trip to the Jeju island.

"We got to realize how severe their agony was after we suffered from the same distortion by the government and the media. We were isolated by distorted media reports and were reviled by the government as pro-North Korea (DPRK) followers," said Bang.

Lee Kang-tae, a Seongju resident who visited the bakery, told Xinhua that he was "duped" by biased media reports. Following the THAAD incident, Lee realized the victims had suffered from the same as he did, driving him to always wear yellow and blue ribbons together.

"I do not trust (South) Korean media nor did grannies and granddads in our village," said Lee Seok-joo, foreman of Soseong-ri village where the Lotte golf course is located. He said all of the villagers had lost their normal life since the THAAD issue erupted.

Im Soon-bun, the female association's head of Soseong-ri, said grannies are fighting for next generations as they believe the war weapons must never exist in their hometown and anywhere in their home country.

On Saturday night, Seongju residents gathered at the Peace Butterfly Square to attend the 235th candlelit protest rally. As usual, they shouted "THAAD Out, Peace In" that echoed throughout the peaceful town.