The South Korean military has suspended all live-fire drills in its annual joint exercises with the United States after two KF-16 fighter jets accidentally bombed a civilian area during a training exercise the previous day.
US Forces Korea also confirmed in a statement released Friday that no US Air Force aircraft were involved in the drill. However, USFK said it will pause live-fire drills that were supposed to be conducted as part of Freedom Shield 25, while the planned command post exercises will proceed as scheduled.
Seoul and Washington announced yesterday their plan to conduct Freedom Shield 25 annual defense-oriented exercises from March 10-21.
"The US and ROK militaries have agreed to pause all live-fire training until further notice," the USFK said in a statement, referring to South Korea by its official name.
"The safety of the local community, US and ROK personnel is our top priority. We take this incident very seriously. We are coordinating closely with the ROK Ministry of Defense and are committed to a thorough and transparent investigation.“
Also, the South Korean Air Force has grounded all flights, except for those conducting essential operations such as surveillance, reconnaissance and emergency response.
Military officials also stated that the lead pilot of the two KF-16s made an error while entering one of the seven latitude coordinates in the aircraft's latitude-longitude system, while all eight longitude coordinates were correctly entered. They added that investigations are underway to determine whether the jet pilots realized the error and attempted to correct it mid-air.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry announced Friday that it had launched a task force to address damage caused by incicdent.
“The military will make every effort to restore normalcy as soon as possible by focusing all available resources on damage recovery and compensation,” acting Defense Minister Kim Sun-ho said in a statement released in Seoul. “We sincerely apologize to the local residents affected by this incident.”
“The ministry will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident and take all necessary measures to prevent recurrence,” he added.
Under Minister Kim's leadership, the Defense Ministry’s task force, comprising the South Korean Air Force and Army, will lead response efforts. At the site, the Army’s 5th Corps has deployed an on-site response team to coordinate with local residents and implement follow-up measures.
The ministry also said it will work with the Pocheon city government to carry out compensation and recovery efforts for the victims.
As of Friday, 29 people have been reported injured, including 15 local residents and 14 military personnel. While two civilians sustained serious injuries, none of the injuries are life-threatening, according to officials. Of the total, nine civilians remain hospitalized for further treatment, while the rest have been discharged.
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