'Surprised' by the column of Subangsa armored vehicles appearing at Seoul Station at dawn... "Thought war had broken out"

Army Defense Artillery Conducts Armored Vehicle Mobility Training
12 Armored Vehicles Pass Dongjak Bridge and Seoul Station

In the early morning, a convoy of about ten armored vehicles appeared in downtown Seoul, causing some citizens who saw them to panic, saying, "I thought a war had broken out."

On the dawn of the 25th, 12 army armored vehicles and over 40 armed personnel crossed the Dongjak Bridge in Seoul, passed Seoul Station, and entered the city center. The 1st Security Group of the Army Capital Defense Command conducted K808 wheeled armored vehicle (Baekho) mobility training in the Seoul downtown area to understand the operational environment of Seoul and strengthen readiness.

[Image source=Defense TV YouTube capture]

The army explained the training by saying, "The troops stationed at the initial base conducted the training assuming a situation where they would mobilize to protect the war command headquarters in case of a crisis." In particular, the goal was to improve the ability to operate armored vehicles in the complex terrain and densely populated infrastructure environment of the capital, Seoul.

Before the training, the military requested cooperation from related agencies such as the police to receive support like traffic control. They also conducted thorough risk assessments in advance to reduce the possibility of safety accidents during the training. However, some citizens who were unaware of the training situation were startled when they saw about ten armored vehicles moving through downtown Seoul late at night, reacting with comments like, "I thought an emergency had occurred," and "I thought a war or coup was happening," sighing in relief afterward.

Meanwhile, there was also an incident last year where citizens were startled by military training in Seoul. In March last year, a report was made to the Yeongdeungpo Central Police Substation that "armed soldiers were roaming the streets." When the police arrived at the scene, they confirmed that these were reservists undergoing operational planning training at the nearby Yeongdeungpo-dong Community Center.

The appearance of armored vehicles passing in front of Seoul Station on the 25th [Image source=Captured from Defense TV YouTube]

The substation had been providing lunch to the reservists through a restaurant outside the training ground. As a result, reservists carrying firearms were seen going to and from the restaurant after morning training, which caught the attention of citizens and caused a commotion. Regarding this, the reservist substation explained that the incident was caused by a misunderstanding of the internal guideline to "always carry firearms as if in a real situation."

A substation official explained, "We judged that it was appropriate to carry firearms anytime and anywhere in a real situation, so we had them carry firearms, and the reservists ate at the contracted restaurant under the guidance of their leader," adding, "Even before COVID-19, they had meals while carrying firearms during training, but since this was the first training in four years, citizens found it somewhat unfamiliar."