A South Korean KF-16 from Seosan Air Base, South Korea, takes off during Exercise Buddy Wing, Aug. 20, 2014. (Taylor Curry/U.S. Air Force)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea – Several people were injured Thursday in Pocheon city after two South Korean fighter jets accidentally released eight live bombs outside a practice range, according to South Korea’s air force.
The MK-82 bombs were “abnormally” dropped at 10:04 a.m. Thursday beyond an unspecified live-fire range by a pair of KF-16 fighters, according to an air force statement to reporters that day. Each jet dropped four bombs, according to the air force.
The bombs were not practice rounds, a Ministry of National Defense spokesman said by phone Thursday. The MK-82 is a 500-pound, 7-foot-long free-fall bomb also employed by the U.S. military. The KF-16 is the South Korean air force’s variant of the U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon.
At least 15 people, including area residents, were injured in the incident, Yonhap News reported Thursday.
The fighters were taking part in activity “linked” to Freedom Shield, an upcoming, large-scale exercise by U.S. and South Korean forces, a National Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday in a statement to reporters.
South Korean officials customarily speak to the media on the condition of anonymity.
Pocheon is roughly 20 miles from the border that divides North Korea and South Korea. The city is also the site of several U.S. and South Korean military firing ranges, such as the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex and the Seungjin Science and Technology Training Center.
The air force said the incident is under investigation and the service was implementing “all necessary measures, including compensation for damages.”
“We wish the injured a speedy recovery,” the service said.
In October 2023, a stray 5.56 mm bullet from the Rodriguez complex struck the windshield of an SUV passing beyond the range. The driver was not injured, and the U.S. Eighth Army took responsibility for the incident.
The 10-day Freedom Shield exercise begins March 10 and includes sites on land, air and sea throughout South Korea, according to a Thursday joint news release from South Korea’s military.
Roughly 19,000 South Korean troops will participate in Freedom Shield, Lee Sung-jun, a South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman, said during a news conference Thursday in Seoul.
U.S. Forces Korea, the command responsible for 28,500 American troops in South Korea, does not release its troop figures for major military exercises as a matter of policy, citing operational security concerns.
Freedom Shield will include 16 drills between the two countries, up from six exercises last year, Lee said.
The exercise will help “strengthen the alliance’s combined defense posture” by applying lessons “learned from recent armed conflicts,” the Joint Chiefs said in its news release Thursday.
Those lessons include North Korean military strategies and “evolving challenges,” such as the communist regime’s “growing partnership with Russia,” the release said.
Freedom Shield is the first of two major military exercises held annually. The second drill, Ulchi Freedom Shield, is typically conducted in August.
