US air base lifts lockdown at high school facility in South Korea

“Everyone is safe. The lockdown has been lifted,” it added.

Osan Air Base, some 65 miles south of Seoul, is one of a number of facilities housing the 28,500 US military personnel permanently based in South Korea.

The facility went into lockdown shortly after 11:00 am (0200 GMT) as a precautionary measure following what high school principal Morgan Nugent suggested was a possible hoax call.

“One of our teachers received a call that sounded automated saying that there was an active shooter drill taking place,” Nugent said.

“There was no scheduled school shooter drill on base, so we have decided to err on the side of safety and went into a full school lockdown,” he added.

The safety measure was extended to the entire base as security forces swept the high school, middle school and elementary school buildings and grounds.