Don't Be Surprised... Black Eagles Flying Over Seoul This Morning

The Air Force special flight team 'Black Eagles' is conducting a rehearsal flight related to the March 1st Movement Day event over downtown Seoul on the 25th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Military Specialist Yang Nak-gyu] On the morning of the 19th, the Air Force's special flight team Black Eagles will fly over Seoul.

On this day, the Air Force announced, "The Black Eagles will fly over Seoul on the 19th and 27th for a memorial flight in honor of the 'Battle of Jangjin Lake War Heroes Memorial Event,' so aircraft noise may occur."

A rehearsal flight will be conducted for 30 minutes starting at 10 a.m. on the 19th, and on the day of the event, the 27th, the memorial flight will take place for about 30 minutes from 2:40 p.m. to 3:10 p.m. The Black Eagles formation, consisting of eight supersonic trainer T-50B aircraft, will fly over Seocho-gu, Gwanak-gu, Yongsan-gu, Mapo-gu, Seongbuk-gu, and Dongdaemun-gu. The Air Force stated that the flight will enter Seoul at an altitude of 2,000 to 3,000 feet (approximately 600 to 900 meters) and can fly as low as 1,000 feet (about 300 meters).

The Air Force said, "If the planned rehearsal flight is canceled due to bad weather, it will be conducted for 30 minutes from 2 p.m. on the 19th, and if flying is still not possible, it will be held for 30 minutes from 3:20 p.m. on the 20th."

The Battle of Jangjin Lake War Heroes Memorial Event, held at the War Memorial in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 27th, was organized to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War and the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Jangjin Lake.

The Battle of Jangjin Lake was fought from November 26 to December 11, 1950, over 17 days in bitter cold of minus 30 to 40 degrees Celsius. During this battle, about 15,000 soldiers of the U.S. 1st Marine Division broke through the encirclement of over 120,000 Chinese People's Volunteer Army troops from seven divisions and withdrew to Hungnam. During the battle, over 4,500 U.S. soldiers were killed and about 7,500 were wounded. This battle is considered one of the fiercest in U.S. military history, enabling approximately 100,000 refugees to evacuate southward. This event was also depicted in the film "Ode to My Father" (Gukjesijang).