South Korean officials said on the 9th that the U.S. troops in South Korea suspended the live-fire exercise of helicopter gunships originally scheduled for the same day because residents near the shooting range where the exercise was held complained about noise and vibration.
Yonhap reported that the live ammunition exercise was scheduled to start on the same day and end next month.
According to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission of South Korea’s government agency, the exercise has been suspended and the residents near the Shuicheng shooting range where the exercise is located are being mediated.
Located in Pohang, a city in southeastern South Korea, the Water City Shooting Range became a shooting training site for the U.S. military’s “Apache” helicopter gunship unit in South Korea in February last year, triggering a series of demonstrations and protests by local residents.
South Korea’s Ministry of Defense spokesman Fu Shengye said at a regular press conference: “Since the live ammunition exercise cannot be postponed too long, we expect the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission to mediate quickly and reasonably.”
About 2,800 residents near the Water City shooting range, unable to withstand the noise and vibration caused by the U.S. military exercise, had previously submitted a petition to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission calling for the cancellation of the exercise and the closure of the Water City shooting range.
