The planned deployment of the US THAAD anti-missile defence system in South Korea has prompted worries among residents near the host site over possible health concerns and economic risks. But for one religious group, Won Buddhists, whose sacred ground is located only 500 meters from where the system is due to be set up, it may have an even bigger impact.

South Korean Won Buddhism is a modernized form of Buddhism but there are still daily rituals embedded in their lifestyle. And early each morning, monks at the temple wake up before the crack of dawn to pray before starting their day. 

But for the past half year, these daily rituals have been disrupted in a dispute over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) as the monks try to protect their sacred ground. 

Kim Sung-hye, Won Buddhist Minister, told CGTN that “Seongju is the heart of our founding masters. We call this 'sacred land' because the divine was born here, sought truth here, and the divine walked here.”

THAAD would be deployed directly on top of the religion’s sacred land, which is over a century old. And the defense system would block the Won Buddhists’ holy pilgrimage route.

The THAAD deployment announcement was originally made in July, but it was in August that the government began considering a golf club owned by Lotte Group that runs along the Won Buddhists’ sacred grounds, as a site.

Since then, Won Buddhists have joined local residents in opposing the deployment.

"No matter where THAAD goes in Korea, we Won Buddhists will fight it and oppose it because Won Buddhism loves peace and follows peace,” one faithful, Son Beop-son, told CGTN.