Civilian vehicle breaches military base, exposing security flaw

[Anchor]

Last night (10.17), an incident occurred in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, where a civilian-driven car crashed through the gate of a military base and fled after crossing the base.

The driver was involved in a traffic accident outside the base and was caught by the police an hour and a half later.

Reporter Jo Hyu-yeon has the details.

[Report]

A military base in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province.

Around 10:45 PM last night, an SUV rushed through the back gate of the base.

The back gate of the base was closed, and there were no vehicles passing through normally.

The vehicle drove along the village road where I am standing, then broke through the back gate.

After crossing about 800 meters inside the base, the vehicle crashed through the main gate guard post and continued to flee.

The base is monitored by CCTV, so the main gate guard post was also empty.

The Army stated that this was a decision made considering the base's personnel and the characteristics of the station.

[Village Resident: "It sounded like metal hitting a concrete floor, the sound of metal. So when I went out in the morning, there were marks in a straight line at this distance."]

The driver evaded the police who were dispatched after receiving reports of the intrusion and drove for about 9km before finally stopping after crashing into a retaining wall at an intersection.

It had been only an hour and a half since the intrusion into the military base.

Fortunately, there were no injuries to soldiers or residents during this nighttime escape.

The police are investigating the driver, a man in his 50s, on charges of violating the Military Bases and Installations Protection Act and other offenses.

Although the driver was not under the influence of alcohol, he exhibited symptoms of drug use, such as incoherence at the time of arrest, and an investigation into drug use is also underway.

This is KBS News, Jo Hyu-yeon.