Yangju highway incident

Yangju highway incident
An American M60A1 Armored Vehicle-Launched Bridge (AVLB) in February 2003.
Korean name
Hangul	미군 장갑차에 의한 중학생 압사 사건
Hanja	에 한
Revised Romanization	Migun Janggapcha-e Euihan Junghaksaeng Apsa Sageon
McCune–Reischauer	Migun Changgapch'a'e Ŭihan Chunghaksaeng Apsa Sagŏn

Coordinates: 37°51′28″N 126°56′56″E / 37.857722°N 126.948972°E / 37.857722; 126.948972

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 (Korean: 심미선).

The American soldiers involved were found not guilty of negligent homicide in the court martial, further inflaming anti-American sentiment in South Korea. The memory of the two schoolgirls is commemorated annually in South Korea.

A U.S. military convoy from the 2nd Infantry Division of Eighth United States Army set out to undertake a training exercise at a range approximately 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of metropolitan Seoul. As the convoy passed along a narrow country road near Yangju City, Gyeonggi Province, one of the convoy's armored vehicles, weighing approximately 57 tons, struck and killed two 14 year old South Korean schoolgirls, Shim Mi-son and Shin Hyo-sun, as they walked along the side of the roadway on their way to a birthday party.