South Korea says military jet misdropped bombs, injuring civilians

According to South Korea’s air force, an unintentional drop of eight bombs by one of its fighter jets caused injuries to civilians during a training exercise.

Eight MK-82 general-purpose bombs landed outside the authorized firing range on an Air Force KF-16 aircraft, according to the air force on Thursday, according to an announcement from the agency.

Around 10 a.m. (01:00 GMT) did the incident in Pocheon, which is located about 25 kilometers south of North Korea’s heavily fortified border.

The air force expressed regret over the bombs’ unintended release, which caused civilian casualties, and wished the injured a quick recovery.

It stated that it would “take all necessary measures, including compensation for damages,” and that it had established an accident response committee to look into the incident.

The Air Force claimed that the military jet had been “participating in a joint live-fire exercise involving both the Army and the Air Force.”

According to the state-funded Yonhap News Agency, South Korea and the United States were conducting live-fire exercises on Thursday in Pocheon.

The bombs were “presummed to have fallen on a village during a South Korea-US joint exercise,” according to the National Fire Agency in South Korea.

According to the report, “casualties and property damage are reported among displaced residents,” adding that three people have been seriously injured and three have only minor injuries.

According to the statement, one church building and two houses were damaged.

One of the largest annual joint exercises between security allies, the “Freedom Shield” military exercises, is scheduled to start later this month.

Since the 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, Koreas still technically are at war.