U.S. to close Maehyang-ri firing range

The U.S. machine gun firing range at Maehyang-ri, Kyungki-Do, will soon be shut down. Shooting practice will also not take place at the U.S. Air Force`s firing range in Korea, which was to take the place of the Maehyang-ri range.

The Ministry of Defense revealed on Thursday that these agreements were finalized after negotiations among Hwasung-kun office, Maehyang-ri residents and the U.S. armed forces. A comprehensive plan to deal with the Maehyang-ri issue was officially announced by Air Force Deputy Chief Lee Han-Ho on August 18.

However, the 23,000-pyong Maehyang-ri range will remain a safe zone. Plans to construct a machine gun range on a man-made island near Nong Island have been designated a long term project. Nong Island, where a bombing range is located, will no longer be used for live-fire drills. Even when training with dud bombs, the attack angle for planes will readjusted seaward in order to reduce noise pollution.