South Korea’s Army has suspended small-arms shooting drills nationwide after an elementary schoolgirl was injured at a playground in Daegu by an object suspected to be a stray bullet.
The child was struck near the neck on Monday afternoon and taken to hospital. She has since been discharged, according to local reporting.
The playground is about 1.4km to 1.5km from a military shooting range, and live-fire training was taking place at the time of the injury, officials said.
What happened at the playground
Authorities say the girl was playing when she was hit below or near the neck by a hard object suspected to be a bullet or bullet fragment.
Investigators are now trying to confirm exactly what struck her and whether it came from the nearby range. Military officials said a shooting drill was under way at the time, but the link has not been formally established.
Why the Army paused rifle and handgun firing drills
The Army said it has halted all firing drills involving individual firearms, a category that includes weapons such as rifles and handguns, while it conducts safety checks and a risk assessment at firing ranges.
An Army spokesperson told reporters the suspension was ordered in the wake of the Daegu incident, and a probe has been launched to determine the cause.
South Korea’s domestic live-fire training is routine, but incidents involving civilians are treated as high-risk events because they raise questions about range design, safety buffers and oversight.
The firing range and its safety measures
The nearby range was installed in 1995 and has safety structures designed to contain rounds, including protective barriers behind targets, according to reporting.
Officials say that is one reason the investigation is focusing on whether a round could have escaped containment, whether there was an equipment failure, or whether a ricochet or fragment travelled beyond the range boundary.
Rare precedents that still haunt public trust
Civilian casualties linked to training are uncommon in South Korea. However, there have been previous cases.
In 2020, a golf caddie in South Jeolla province required emergency surgery after being struck in the head by a stray bullet fired from a nearby military range, according to reports cited in coverage of the Daegu incident.
More recently, South Korea’s military suspended live-fire drills and some air training after fighter jets accidentally dropped bombs on a village in Pocheon in March 2025, injuring dozens of people, Reuters and AP reported at the time.
What investigators will be looking for next
The investigation is expected to focus on three questions.
First, whether the object removed during treatment can be conclusively identified as ammunition used in the drill. Second, whether the range’s protective systems performed as intended. Third, whether the safety distance between the range and nearby residential areas is adequate for this type of training.
For now, South Korea’s Army says small-arms firing will remain suspended while it evaluates risk across its ranges. The Daegu case has also renewed scrutiny of how military training is managed near civilian spaces, even when incidents are rare.
