--- description: U.S. forces in South Korea are planning a drill to train soldiers in evacuating American civilians to safety in the event of an incident title: U.S. Forces to Hold Civilian Evacuation Drill in South Korea image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb652e369c418b5b8/6988c4130a4a2254019cdd8d/gettyimages-670558638.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [South Korea](/tag/south-korea/) ## South Korea Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Evacuation of Americans From South Korea Is Going to Be Rehearsed in June by [Ryan Kilpatrick](/author/ryan-kilpatrick/) ## Ryan Kilpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 24, 2017 5:00 AM CUT  U.S. Air Force soldiers squat beneath U.S. ground-attack aircraft at a U.S. air base in Gunsan, South Korea, on April 20, 2017 U.S. Air Force soldiers squat beneath U.S. ground-attack aircraft at a U.S. air base in Gunsan, South Korea, on April 20, 2017Seong Joon Cho—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Ryan Kilpatrick](/author/ryan-kilpatrick/) ## Ryan Kilpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 24, 2017 5:00 AM CUT U.S. forces in South Korea are planning a drill to train soldiers [in evacuating U.S. civilians](http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/04/205%5F228090.html "undefined") to safety in the event of an incident the Korean Peninsula. The drill, due to take place in June, could see troops with the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) evacuate their family members and other civilians to places such as Japan by transport planes, the _Korea Times_ reports. The planned exercise comes as tensions reach a nadir in the region, due to North Korea’s recent ballistic [missile tests](http://time.com/4741567/north-korea-missile-test-failed/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined") and joint U.S.-South Korea war games. On Sunday, the North [said](http://time.com/4751913/north-korea-sink-aircraft-carrier/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") it was “ready to sink” the U.S. aircraft carrier U.S.S. _Carl Vinson_ and its accompanying strike group that is headed toward the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. military’s last evacuation exercise in South Korea took place in October and November last year, after Pyongyang successfully conducted its fifth underground nuclear test in September. It was the first such drill in seven years. On Monday, South Korean officials said there was a chance North Korea could conduct its sixth nuclear test or a test launch of an ICMB around the anniversary of the military’s founding on Tuesday, Associated Press [reports](http://time.com/4751946/south-north-korea-nuclear-icbm-tests/?xid=homepage "undefined"). Around 230,000 U.S. citizens, including 28,500 servicemen and women, currently live in South Korea. \[[_Korea Times_](http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/04/205%5F228090.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4751933/south-korea-evacuation-exercise-military/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4751933/south-korea-evacuation-exercise-military/"},"headline":"The Evacuation of Americans From South Korea Is Going to Be Rehearsed in June","datePublished":"2017-04-24T05:00:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:33:47.071Z","description":"Around 230,000 U.S. citizens currently live in South Korea","url":"https://time.com/4751933/south-korea-evacuation-exercise-military/","keywords":["South Korea","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb652e369c418b5b8/6988c4130a4a2254019cdd8d/gettyimages-670558638.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Kilpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-kilpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb652e369c418b5b8/6988c4130a4a2254019cdd8d/gettyimages-670558638.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Demonstration Of South Korea And U.S. Air Forces Joint Training Exercise","caption":"Demonstration Of South Korea And U.S. Air Forces Joint Training Exercise","creditText":"Seong Joon Cho—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/south-korea/","name":"South Korea"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4751933/south-korea-evacuation-exercise-military/","name":"The Evacuation of Americans From South Korea Is Going to Be Rehearsed in June"}}]}] ```