A pair of South Korean KF-16 fighter jets accidentally dropped eight bombs on a residential area outside of Seoul during a live-fire exercise, Seoul’s air force said Thursday, injuring at least 15 people.
Eight MK-82 conventional bombs were “abnormally” dropped during a joint air force-army live fire exercise and fell outside the firing range, the air force said in a statement sent to reporters.
The incident occurred at around 10 a.m. in the city of Pocheon, around 16 miles south of the border with North Korea.
Thirteen people suffered minor injuries and two had serious injuries, fire officials said, according to local media reports. The bombs damaged a church and seven other buildings.
The air force said it was conducting an investigation into the incident.
“We apologize for the civilian casualties caused by the abnormal drop accident and hope for the speedy recovery of the injured,” the air force said. “We will also actively implement all necessary measures, including compensation for damages.”
An official with Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff later confirmed additional details from defense officials, telling reporters that each aircraft dropped four MK-82 bombs, and that one of the pilots had mistakenly entered the coordinates for the bombing target.
The official said that the military will suspend all live-fire drills until the cause of the accident is determined.
Seoul’s Defense Ministry said at a press briefing before the incident Thursday that South Korea and the United States were holding combined live-fire drills at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon.
The drills were linked to the allies’ upcoming annual Freedom Shield joint exercise, which will begin next week.
The 11-day exercise runs from Monday through March 20 and will involve computer-simulated drills and on-field training, according to a joint statement released Thursday by both militaries.
“ROK and U.S. units will execute combined joint all-domain live field training exercises across the land, sea, air, cyber and space domains integrated within the exercise scenarios to strengthen interoperability,” the statement said, using South Korea’s official acronym.
“By reflecting realistic threats, lessons learned from recent armed conflicts, and evolving challenges, including the DPRK’s military strategy, tactics and capabilities, as well as its growing partnership with Russia, the ROK-U.S. Alliance will further strengthen its readiness, capability and combined defense posture,” the statement said.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
Pyongyang regularly condemns the allies’ joint drills as rehearsals for an invasion. On Tuesday, Kim Yo Jong — the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — warned that the deployment of U.S. assets to the Korean Peninsula would compel the country to bolster its nuclear arsenal and ramp up military provocations.
