Daily US Times, Seoul: A false siren at a US military base in South Korea sparks fears of North Korean attack among the troops.
The troops at Camp Casey, the closest US base to the border with the North heard an emergency siren instead of a bugle tune on Thursday.
A military spokesman blamed it ‘human error’ and soldiers were quickly notified about the mistake.
The mistake happens in a time when US-North Korea relations are facing hurdles. North Korea warned it could send a ‘Christmas gift’ to the US if the later country can’t take any step to re-open nuclear negotiations.
North Korea has been urging the US to lift sanctions over the country’s nuclear programme, But Donald Trump refused to do that.
In another case on Friday, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK mistakenly reported North Korea had fired a missile that landed in the sea off the Japanese coast and then corrected it after 20 minutes.
Camp Casey is strategically important base and is home to several thousand US troops. The base is near the South Korean town of Dongducheon about 60km (40 miles) north of the South Korean capital Seoul.
The current US-North Korea tensions erupted earlier in December when North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Ri Thae Song hinted that Pyongyang could resume long-range missile tests if Washington refused to change its negotiating position.
It was ‘entirely up to the US what Christmas gift it will select, Mr Song said at the time.
The US military officials are closely watching North Korea’s actions. The commander of Pacific Air Forces said it was possible for North Korea to launch a long-range missile.
But President Trump was reportedly joking this comment by saying he is ready to handle North Korea’s gift.
‘Maybe it’s present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test. I may get a vase. I may get a nice present from him. You don’t know. You never know’, Trump said in his Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday.