The US Forces Korea said Friday it has agreed to pause all live-fire training after South Korean fighter jets mistakenly bombed a village during joint live-fire drills earlier this week.
On Thursday, two KF-16 fighter jets "abnormally" released eight MK-82 bombs outside a training range in Pocheon, some 40 kilometers north of Seoul, during the drills, leaving 15 people injured and damaging eight buildings, according to military and rescue officials.
"The US and ROK militaries have agreed to pause all live-fire training until further notice," USFK spokesperson Col. Ryan Donald said in a statement, referring to South Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Republic of Korea.
The move falls in line with the South Korean military's earlier announcement to suspend all live-fire drills until authorities determine the exact cause of the bombing through an investigation.
Meanwhile, the USFK confirmed that no US Air Force aircraft were involved in this week's live-fire exercise. It also said the allies plan to conduct their major springtime computer-simulated exercise next week as scheduled.
Pilot error is suspected to have caused the accidental bombing as one of the pilots of the jets entered the wrong target coordinates prior to takeoff, according to an Air Force official. (Yonhap)
