数百名居住在美国萨德导弹防御系统计划部署地点附近的韩国民众周三在首尔举行抗议。
金泉市市长朴宝生对抗议者说，他试图说服省级官员和国防部官员，不要在他的城市附近部署末端高空防御体系统（THAAD，简称“萨德”），但没人理睬他的请求。金泉市有13000居民。
今年夏天爆发的抗议迫使韩国政府改变了原计划在星洲郡部署萨德的地点，那个地点距离星洲郡一处人口聚集区仅1.5公里之遥。
9月选出了新的部署地点，位于在星洲郡远郊的乐天天山乡村俱乐部高尔夫球场。这个地点距离金泉市8公里，地处朝鲜半岛的最南端。
周三在韩国首都参加反萨德示威的抗议者数量明显比7月那次大规模集会少了许多。那次集会估计有5000人参加。
一些人感到气愤的是，部署萨德的决定来得太过突然，根本没有征求当地人的意见。
许多当地居民担心萨德系统雷达发出的电磁辐射会给附近居民带来严重伤害，而且会污染农作物。
萨德系统运用高分辨率雷达探测和跟踪远距离和高海拔地区的弹道导弹威胁。这个系统使用雷达和红外探测技术操纵六个移动发射器和48枚拦截导弹。
韩国和美国军队曾试图通过在关岛进行萨德系统测试的方式驳斥这些对于健康的担忧。测试结果显示，在半径100米以外的安全区没有辐射危险。
但是一些居民表示，他们自己做的研究与政府发布的结果相矛盾。
Hundreds of South Koreans who live near the future deployment site of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system staged a protest in Seoul Wednesday.
Gimcheon Mayor Park Bo-saeng told the protesters that he has tried to dissuade provincial leaders and defense ministry officials from deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system near his city of 13,000 people, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
Protests over the summer forced the South Korean government to move the planned THAAD location away from one area in Seongju County that was 1.5 kilometers from a population center.
The new site, selected in September, is the Lotte Skyhill Country Club golf course, which is in a more rural part of Seongju County, and eight kilometers away from the city of Gimcheon, in the southern end of the Korean Peninsula.
The number of protesters who came to the South Korean capital for the anti-THAAD demonstration on Wednesday was significantly less than the estimated 5,000 that came for the last major rally in July.
Many are angry that the deployment decision was made suddenly without local input.
Many local residents are concerned that exposure to the electromagnetic radiation from the system's radar could cause serious harm to nearby residents and could contaminate agricultural products.
THAAD uses high-resolution radar designed to detect and track ballistic missile threats at long distances and high altitudes. The system's radar and infrared seeking technology are used to program six mobile launchers and 48 interceptor missiles.
South Korean and U.S. militaries have tried to refute these health concerns by publicly conducting a test of the THAAD system in Guam showing that outside a 100-meter radius safety zone, there is no danger of radiation exposure.
Some residents say they have done their own research that contradicts the government's findings.
