CHERWON: A US military helicopter taking part in South Korea-US joint military exercises crashed while landing at a front-line Army unit on Tuesday, but all of three crew members and 13 US soldiers on board escaped unscathed, police and military officials said.
Sikorsky’s CH-53 transport helicopter crashed onto a military shooting range in Cherwon, 88 kilometers north of Seoul, while landing after completing a three-hour training exercise along with five other helicopters, according to military officials.
The Korean peninsula is currently at a state of heightened military tensions, partly due to North Korea’s anger over the ongoing South Korea-US drill, which it sees as an invasion rehearsal.
There are 28,500 US military personnel permanently stationed in South Korea.
After a day of festivities to mark the 101st birthday of Kim Il-sung, North Korea on Tuesday offered new prickly rhetoric against the United States and South Korea.
DND
