South Korean fighter jets accidentally bombed homes during a live-fire drill with US forces, injuring more than a dozen people, Seoul’s military said on Thursday.
Eight MK-82 general-purpose bombs were “abnormally dropped” from two KF-16 fighter jets and landed outside the designated firing range at approximately 10:07 a.m. local time, hitting civilian infrastructure in Pocheon city, northeast of the capital Seoul, according to the South Korean Air Force.
South Korea’s defense ministry said initial findings indicated the accident was caused by a pilot inputting incorrect bombing coordinates.
An image that local media outlets said captured the aftermath of the explosions showed thick smoke billowing into the air in a rural area.
Fifteen civilians were injured, including two seriously wounded. The National Fire Agency told CNN that no cardiac arrest or unconsciousness were reported.
The blasts destroyed two residential buildings, part of a church, and a truck.
“The scene of the incident is chaotic, resembling a battlefield,” Pocheon Mayor Baek Young-hyun said in a televised statement.
The aircraft were participating in a joint live-fire exercise with the South Korean Army and the US military, related to the annual joint US-South Korea “Freedom Shield” military drills, the South Korean Air Force told CNN, without providing further details.
South Korea’s military said all live-fire training would be suspended from Thursday until a probe into the incident had concluded. An accident response team has been formed to investigate and the air force said it would provide compensation for damages.
The air force apologized that the “abnormal bomb release has caused civilian damage” and wished the injured a swift recovery.
Officials have not ruled out the possibility of a malfunction, an air force official told CNN.
The Freedom Shield drills were scheduled to run from March 10 to March 20 to strengthen the US-South Korean alliance’s combined defense posture, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier Thursday.
The annual drills often rile nuclear-armed North Korea, which views them as provocations.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has accused the United States and South Korea of increasing tensions with their joint drills and Pyongyang often responds with bellicose threats.
In 2023, as US strategic bombers took part in joint air drills with South Korean forces, North Korea carried out a ballistic missile test, according to the South Korean military.
This story has been updated with additional information.
