South Korean Students Detained After Attempted Entry into Osan Air Base

On Tuesday, eight South Korean university students – four men and four women – were taken into custody after U.S. military personnel said they tried to breach the main gate of Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Police transferred the detainees to Korean National Police custody for investigation under the Military Base and Military Facility Protection Act. The students shouted anti-U.S.

Students from a group of college students who broke into a U.S. military base in South Korea without. .

Osan Air Base is part of a broader U.S. footprint that includes roughly 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War armistice. The protestors were affiliated with the Korean Progressive University Student Union, which argues that the U.S. military’s use of the nearby Gwangju Military Airbase hampers a planned 800 trillion-won (?€485 billion) semiconductor manufacturing hub for SK hynix and Samsung Electronics in the city of Gwangju. The South Korean president’s office recently announced bilateral talks with Washington about possibly relocating the airport portion of the base to accommodate the project.

EuronewsSouth Korean students detained for allegedly breaking into US military base Students from a group of college students who broke into a U.S. military base in South Korea without. .

A U.S. South Korean police confirmed the students are being held without comment and noted they have invoked their right to remain silent. The Korean Progressive University Student Union posted on Facebook that the detention reflects the U.S. military’s “interruption” of the semiconductor cluster project. Surveys cited by the ABC report indicate a persistent majority of South Koreans support the U.S.–South Korea security alliance despite such protests.

South Korean students detained for allegedly breaking into US military base EuronewsStudents from a group of college students who broke into a U.S. military base in South Korea without. .

• “Six out of eight students from Daejinyeon entered the base, and two were stopped at the entrance.” — police official

Students from a group of college students who broke into a U.S. military base in South Korea without. .

South Korean authorities have opened a formal inquiry into the alleged violation of the Military Base and Military Facility Protection Act. The investigation will determine whether additional charges are warranted and how the incident may affect future protests related to the semiconductor hub and U.S. military installations.

South Korean students detained for allegedly breaking into US military base