The Seoul military said Thursday that during a live exercise with the U.S. military, South Korean fighter jets accidentally bombed the house during a live training with the U.S. troops, injuring more than a dozen people.
According to the South Korean Air Force, eight MK-82 general-purpose bombs “fall abnormally” from two KF-16 fighters and landed outside the designated shooting range at 10:07 a.m. local time, hitting civilian infrastructure in Pocheon City, northeast of the capital Seoul.
The South Korean Ministry of Defense said the initial findings showed that the accident was caused by incorrect bombing coordinates put into the pilot.
Images, local media said, captured the consequences of the explosion, indicating an influx of air in rural areas.
15 civilians were injured, two of them were injured. The National Fire Service told CNN that there were no reported cardiac arrest or unconsciousness.
The explosion destroyed two residential buildings, part of the church and a truck.
“The scenes of the incident are chaotic, similar to battlefields,” Pocheon Mayor Baek Young-Hyun said in a televised statement.
The South Korean Air Force told CNN that the aircraft is conducting joint live exercises with the South Korean military and the U.S. military, related to the annual South Korean “Freedom Shield” military exercise in the southern United States.
South Korean military said all on-site fire training will be suspended from Thursday until an investigation into the incident is concluded. An accident response team has been set up to investigate and the Air Force said it will provide compensation for damages.
The Air Force apologized for “the release of abnormal bombs caused civilian damage” and hoped that the injury would recover quickly.
Seoul said earlier Thursday that the Free Shield training is scheduled to be held from March 10 to March 20 to strengthen the United Nations defense posture of the Confederate.
The annual exercise often angers North Korea, which is nuclear-armed, and leader Kim Jong-un accused the United States and South Korea of exacerbating tensions through joint exercises, and Pyongyang often responds in a bell-shaped threat.
🚨New video shows bomb hitting Korean towns near DMZ
The South Korean Air Force said that during a war exercise with the United States, the aircraft mistakenly dropped 82 MK-82 bombs.
The MK-82 is a 500-pound bomb made in the United States.
15 people were reportedly injured. pic.twitter.com/txfesolxuf
-Nodutdol | Nohdol (@nodutdol) March 6, 2025
