USFK training at Pocheon live-firing complex fully restored after 6 years

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) troops are now allowed to hold full-scale drills at a firing range in Pocheon, where training had taken place in a limited manner due to safety concerns raised by residents, the defense ministry said Monday.

Under the agreement signed among the ministry, the city government of Pocheon, the 5th Corps and a committee of residents in the city, some 25 kilometers south of the Demilitarized Zone, USFK firing drills at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex had been fully restored as of Monday, the ministry said in a release.

“Through the agreement, all firing drills by the USFK, including those that involve Apache helicopters, held at the Pocheon Yeongpyeong range have been normalized,” the ministry said, referring to the Korean name of the firing range.

The development came more than six years after firing drills at the range have been conducted in a limited manner following stray bullets being found in a nearby area in January 2018, in a string of safety accident that residents have protested against.

As part of the agreement, the ministry said the stakeholders agreed to launch a special committee on establishing a community sports and culture facility for residents and troops in the area.

The ministry said the agreement will help bolster the South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture by providing stable training circumstances for the USFK.