A child in Daegu was hit in the neck by a suspected stray bullet from a military range, prompting a nationwide suspension of individual firearms training.
SEOUL: South Korea’s army has suspended all individual firearms firing drills nationwide and launched an investigation after a child was struck in the neck by a suspected stray bullet from a military shooting range.
The incident occurred at a playground in the southern city of Daegu on Monday, where the child, whose identity has been withheld, was injured by the suspected projectile from a nearby army facility.
She was taken to hospital and later discharged as her condition was not life-threatening, with an army official quoted by Yonhap news agency stating that “the bullet tip was found in the child’s wound during hospital treatment.”
“The army has halted all firing drills of individual firearms in the wake of the incident,” said Bae Seok-jin, head of the army’s public relations office, at a press briefing on Tuesday.
Bae confirmed that a shooting drill was being conducted at the time of the incident and that the army had launched a probe to determine the exact cause of the accident.
This is not the first such safety lapse, as in 2020 a golf caddie in South Jeolla province collapsed after being struck by a stray bullet from a military range and required emergency surgery, though she survived.
Last year, two South Korean fighter jets accidentally dropped eight bombs on a village near the border with North Korea during a joint exercise with US forces, injuring nearly 30 people.