37°51′28″N 126°56′56″E / 37.857722°N 126.948972°E
Yangju highway incident | |
Korean name | |
---|---|
Hangul | 미군 장갑차에 의한 중학생 압사 사건 |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Migun Janggapcha-e Euihan Junghaksaeng Apsa Sageon |
McCune–Reischauer | Migun Changgapch'a'e Ŭihan Chunghaksaeng Apsa Sagŏn |
The Yangju highway incident, also known as the Yangju training accident or Highway 56 Accident, occurred on June 13, 2002, in Yangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. A United States Army armored vehicle-launched bridge, returning to base in Uijeongbu on a public road after training maneuvers in the countryside, struck and killed two 14-year-old South Korean schoolgirls, Shin Hyo-sun (Korean: 신효순) and Shim Mi-seon (심미선).
The American soldiers involved were found not guilty of negligent homicide in the court martial, further inflaming anti-American sentiment in South Korea and sparking a series of candlelight vigil protests in protest of their deaths. The memory of the two schoolgirls is commemorated annually in South Korea.[1]