US military suspends training at South Korean facility after 4 civilians die in crash

The US military command in South Korea has decided to suspend training at a range after four civilians were killed in a crash with an armoured vehicle on August 30. An SUV carrying four people collided with a military armoured vehicle on a public road around 5km away from a live-fire range in Pocheon, an inland city in the far northeastern region.

All four civilians died in the crash, while one US soldier suffered minor injuries, the fire department said in a statement. The military vehicle reportedly belonged to the 2nd Infantry Division-ROK/U.S. Combined Division, which is being led by an American commander with a South Korean deputy.

“USFK offers its deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased following this tragic accident, they are in our thoughts and prayers,” said U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) in a statement.

“Out of respect to those killed and their families, Eighth Army is temporarily suspending training in the area,” it added.

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US military presence

Around 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea with a continuous military presence since the Korean War. While the Trump administration has been pushing for a bigger sum for the maintenance of US troops in the Korean peninsula, Seoul wants to control all troops present in the country in an event of war.

The push comes amid Trump’s policy to cut troops across the world, including Afghanistan and Germany. Germany has hosted US military facilities for a long time and provided jumping-off point to the troops who were to be deployed in the Middle East. However, Trump said in June that the US troops have helped boost the local economies with their personal spending and the decision was to punish Germany for being “delinquent”.

“Those are well-paid soldiers. They live in Germany. They spend vast amounts of money in Germany. Everywhere around those bases is very prosperous for Germany. So Germany takes, and then on top of it they treat us very badly on trade,” said Trump.

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(Representational Image: Twitter / @DeptofDefense)