Two S. Korean fighter jets accidentally drop eight bombs on residential area in Pocheon

Thank you for joining us. I'm Yoon Jung-min.

What were supposed to be joint drills to bolster security ended up in a nightmare this morning, as several bombs abnormally fell on a residential area in Pocheon.

Our defense correspondent Kim Bo-kyoung covers the extraordinary accident.

Several civilians and soldiers were injured, after bombs fell on a residential area in the northern city of Pocheon, Gyeonggi-do Province on Thursday morning.

According to related authorities, bombs had fallen on Pocheon's Nogok-ri at around 10 AM damaging several buildings.

The bombs, came from the joint air and ground force live-fire training exercises between South Korea and the U.S., that were being held in connection with the annual springtime exercise, the 2025 Freedom Shield, slated to kick off on March 10th.

The exercise involved the Korean Air Force, Army, and U.S. Forces Korea, and took place at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon.

Two KF-16 fighter jets that formed a single flight unit wrongly dropped eight MK-82 bombs, four from each. veering off and heading around 8 kilometers away from the original target.

"The cause of the abnormal drop has been identified as an error with the pilot's coordinates input."

The aircraft's pilot in charge of making the first bomb drop reportedly entered the wrong coordinates before takeoff.

Pilots need to verify the numbers even after.

An investigation will determine whether the coordinates were double-checked.

It is highly likely the second pilot made the same mistake as two fighter jets dropped the bombs almost simultaneously.

MK-82 bombs are used to destroy structures such as buildings and bridges.

They are dropped using an unguided method, rather than a GPS-guided system.

The impact points of all eight bombs were confirmed, and the Air Force said there were no unexploded bombs.

While expressing sincere wishes for the quick recovery of the injured, Korean Air Force established an accident response committee, to investigate further and assess the damage.

It also noted that necessary measures, including compensation, would be actively carried out.

The Air Force Chief of Staff also vowed to conduct comprehensive safety training for all personnel, and improve verification procedures to prevent such accidents from happening again.

As for drills, the Freedom Shield exercise will go ahead as planned, but the military decided to suspend all live-fire training, including rifle exercises, until the exact cause of the incident is determined.

Kim Bo-kyoung, Arirang News.