At least 15 people have been injured after shells were mistakenly dropped on a residential area near Seoul during joint US-South Korea military exercises.
The Korean Air Force said that a KF-16 fighter jet “abnormally” released eight MK-82 bombs outside the range of the training exercises. The Air Force said it was conducting an investigation into the incident and apologised for the harm caused to civilians.
Two foreign nationals were among those injured, officials said, in what is believed to be the first incident of its kind where an accidental bombing by a South Korean fighter jet resulted in civilian casualties.
The shell damaged two houses and a church in Pocheon, located 43km north of the capital, at around 10am on Thursday (local time), fire authorities said. The shells displaced several residents with the number of injured expected to rise, according to Korean media reports.
An unnamed fire official told reporters, it was “presumed to be a misfire accident in military training”. The fire department rushed at least 72 personnel and 33 equipment to rescue people while checking for additional injuries.
Emergency responders said two people with severe injuries were rushed to the hospital, while others were undergoing treatment for minor injuries.
The civilians were evacuated from the village to a town hall as defence officials combed the area to check for unexploded bombs, Yonhap news agency reported.
“We are sorry for the damage caused by the abnormal drop accident, and we wish the injured a speedy recovery,” the air force said in a statement. “We will actively take all necessary measures, including compensation for the damage.”
A local resident surnamed Park said he was watching television when a shell exploded. “I suddenly heard an enormous explosion, like a thunderclap, and the whole house shook. When I went outside, everything was in chaos,” the resident told Yonhap.
The bombs shook the building of a senior centre about 1km away from the site of the incident. “The windows shattered, and one of our teachers was injured and taken to the hospital,” the centre’s director, surnamed Yu, told the news agency.
“Fortunately, none of the seniors were hurt, but they were so frightened that we sent them all home,” they added.
Residents of the area have reportedly protested about the disturbance and danger from nearby training grounds for years.
The defence ministry earlier confirmed that Seoul and Washington were holding their first joint live-fire exercises in Pocheon, which were linked to annual military drills.
In 2022, a South Korean Hyunmu-2 short-range ballistic missile accidentally crashed into a military golf course in Gangwon province, but no one was injured. Earlier in 2004, an Air Force F-5B mistakenly released a practice bomb over Boryeong, which resulted in no casualties.
South Korean and US forces will take part in the Freedom Shield exercise, a computer-simulated command post training, and related field exercises from 10 to 20 March, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
The statement said the Freedom Shield exercise will involve responses to evolving challenges like North Korea’s growing military partnership with Russia.
“Our planners look across the globe and identify the trends that are changing and we look at how we can incorporate that into our exercises,” Ryan Donald, a spokesperson for the United States Forces Korea (USFK), told reporters on Thursday.
About 70 combined field training sessions are scheduled for this year’s exercise, according to South Korea’s JCS.
North Korea has not responded to the announcement yet, but earlier this week, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un, accused the US of intensifying confrontational actions and threatened to ramp up measures.
Observers say Pyongyang could test-fire powerful nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike the US mainland and American military bases in the region.
