The KF-16, South Korea’s variant of the U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon, is used by both the South Korean and U.S. militaries. (Taylor Curry/U.S. Air Force)
South Korea’s military has charged two air force pilots with criminal negligence following an accidental bombing that injured 38 people outside a live-fire range.
The two unidentified KF-16 pilots were accused of mistakenly inputting incorrect bombing coordinates during a training flight on March 6, the Criminal Investigation Command of the Ministry of National Defense said in a news release Thursday.
Eight 500-pound MK-82 free-fall bombs struck a section of Pocheon city, beyond the intended practice range and about 20 miles south of the border with North Korea.
The pilots’ error was the “direct cause” of the bombs landing in a residential area, the release said. The investigation remains ongoing.
The bombs were also dropped “without visually confirming the target” in the final stages, South Korean air force spokesman Jang Dong-ha told reporters at a news conference in Seoul on Thursday.
Jang said the pilots face additional charges related to damage at an unspecified military facility.
The KF-16, South Korea’s variant of the U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon, is used by both the South Korean and U.S. militaries. The MK-82 bomb is also employed by U.S. forces.
South Korea’s air force chief of staff, Gen. Lee Young-su, issued a televised apology Monday.
“As the chief of staff, I am responsible for this accident,” he said before bowing his head.
In the wake of the incident, U.S. Forces Korea announced that all live-fire training has been suspended for the “safety of the local community.”
The training was part of the large-scale Freedom Shield drills that began Monday, according to the defense ministry and USFK. The 10-day exercise includes operations on land, air, sea and cyberspace and involves approximately 19,000 South Korean troops and an unspecified number of U.S. personnel.
North Korea, which frequently condemns U.S.-South Korean military exercises, called this year’s drills a “nuclear war simulation” and described the bombing incident as “an ominous sign.”
The bombs landed “near the southern border” of North Korea, and “it is not unreasonable to imagine that an accidental spark might have plunged the Korean Peninsula … into a new armed conflict,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.
