An opposition lawmaker on Wednesday called for an expanded application of a South Korea-US agreement that mandates the US military give prior notice about its planned drills only in regions north of Seoul.

Kim Jong-dae of the progressive Justice Party proposed that such a notice also be given to other regions south of Seoul, where residents frequently complain about the disturbing sounds of military firearms and aircraft mobilized for unannounced exercises.

He demanded a change to the "preventive measures against future accidents" under the Status of Forces Agreement governing the legal status of the 28,500 US military personnel stationed here as a deterrent against North Korea's aggression.

"If the application of the rules on prior notification is extended to cover regions across the country, the defense ministry, provincial administrative units, police and local residents ... they would not need to go through such trouble," Kim said in a press release.

"We have to revise the agreement and the (Korean) military has to share this (with the residents) to ensure that we can deal promptly with residents' complaints," he added.

According to Kim's office, Seoul and Washington agreed in May 2003 on the rules over the prior notification following the deaths of two girls run over by a US military vehicle during an exercise here in 2002. The accident triggered anti-American sentiment across the country. (Yonhap)