US troops get ‘false order’ to leave South Korea
The US military has denied ordering American troops and their families in South Korea to evacuate the country, after a number of them reported receiving mysterious text messages that told them to do so.
"Anyone receiving this false message should not click any links or open any attachments included in the correspondence," US Forces Korea said in a statement on Friday.
US Forces Korea spokesman Colonel Chad Carroll said in an interview with Stars and Stripes that there was no way to find out the source of the texts.
"Incidents were ‘self-reported,’ and many people claimed the message disappeared as soon as they unlocked their phone," Caroll said.
The official noted that none of the roughly 28,500 US troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula acted on the messages and departed South Korea.
The US Army’s counterintelligence officials based in the South had launched an investigation into the source of the fake evacuation orders and were yet to find out who was responsible.
The US military has an evacuation plan for the peninsula that it has tested on several occasions in order to maintain readiness.
"If a situation develops quickly and the Department of State requires assistance in the evacuation of noncombatants, the Secretary of State will request that the military assist in the evacuation," the plan reads. "During this stage, the military will assemble the noncombatants and then either relocate or evacuate them to a safer place."
The false order comes amid heightened tensions with North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programs, which have prompted an ongoing war of words between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
During his first address to the United Nations earlier this week, Trump threatened to "totally destroy" the North if all other ways to “denuclearize” Pyongyang failed.
Kim responded by referring to Trump as "mentally deranged" and a "dotard," pledging to "tame" the US president with "fire."
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