Reuters
[ Source: Recuter ]
South Korea and the United States will kick off their annual “Freedom Shield” military exercise from next week, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff announced.
The joint drills, which will last until March 20, will strengthen the readiness of the alliance for realistic threats such as North Korea’s military strategy and tactics, the JCS said.
The announcement came just before reports of a shell landing in a civilian district this morning during a live fire drill in the town of Pocheon.
At least eight people were injured, and houses and a church sustained damage, a local fire official said.
South Korea’s Air Force later apologised for the “damage caused” after the eight 500-pound (225kg) Mk82 bombs from a KF-16 jet fell outside the shooting range during joint live-fire exercises conducted with the U.S.
Pocheon is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Seoul, near the heavily militarised border with North Korea.
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