South Korean fighter jets accidentally drop bombs, injuring 8

Seoul: Two South Korean fighter jets accidentally dropped eight bombs on a civilian area during a joint live-fire exercise with the US military on Thursday, injuring eight people, officials said.

The MK-82 bombs released by the KF-16 fighter jets fell outside a firing range, the air force said in a statement. It apologised and expressed hopes for a speedy recovery of the injured and said it would offer compensation and take other necessary steps. The air force said the fighter jets were taking part in the one-day firing drill with the US military in Pocheon, a city close to the heavily armed border with North Korea.

The air force also said a committee would investigate the accident and examine the scale of the damage inflicted.

An unidentified air force official told local reporters that a pilot of one of the KF-16s had entered wrong coordinates for a bombing site. An unidentified Defence Ministry official told reporters that further investigation was needed to determine why the second KF-16 also dropped bombs on a civilian area.

In a televised briefing, Pocheon Mayor Paek Young Hyeun called the bombings “awful” and urged the military to halt drills in the city until it formulates reliable steps that can prevent a recurrence. He said that Pocheon, a city of 140,000 people, provides three major firing ranges for the Korean and US militaries.