South Korean Village Accidentally Bombed During Joint Military Exercise
During a joint live-fire exercise with the U.S. military on 6 March, South Korean fighter jets mistakenly bombed the village of Nogok. Fifteen people were injured.
In a statement, the South Korean air force said that two KF-16 fighter jets dropped eight 500-lb MK-82 bombs on the village, according to the Associated Press (AP). The bombing occurred at roughly 10:07 a.m., local time, and damaged civilian infrastructure outside of Pocheon, a city of 140,000 people roughly 25 miles northeast of Seoul. “The blasts destroyed two residential buildings, part of a church, and a truck,” CNN reported.
According to unidentified officials from the air force and the Defense Ministry, the bombing of the South Korean village, which lies near the nation’s heavily-armed border with North Korea, was the result of a pilot entering incorrect coordinates for a bombing site.
News reports since the initial incident indicate that as many as 15 civilians were injured in the bombing. “Four of the injured people were seriously wounded and required surgery, said officials in Pocheon, a town that includes the village of Nogok, where the bombs fell. Of the other 11, seven suffered shock and minor scratches from falling down. Local news outlets said none of the victims was in critical condition,” The New York Times reported.
The joint exercise included a one-day firing drill in Pocheon. The exercise was related to an annual set of joint military drills with the United States, dubbed “Freedom Shield,” that are scheduled to run from 10-20 March. Roughly 70 combined field training sessions are scheduled for the Freedom Shield drills, according to a spokesperson for Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, Reuters reported.
With the accidental bombing, the South Korean military has suspended all live-fire training for 6 March until an investigation into the incident is concluded. No United States Air Force aircraft participated in the exercise when the accidental bombing occurred.
The Korean air force said it would offer compensation and that a committee is investigating the incident. The possibility of a malfunction has not been ruled out, and the Defense Ministry said that further investigation would be needed to figure out why the second jet also dropped its bombs on the area. Each jet dropped four bombs, with all eight bombs detonating, according to Reuters, although it remains unknown how many of the bombs hit Nogok.
The military exercises have drawn criticism from residents in the area outside of the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex for years, with complaints about both the danger and noise from firing live weapons.
