South Korea blames pilots for bombing village

South Korean military investigators have charged two Air Force pilots with criminal negligence following the bombing of a village near the border with the North which resulted in at least 29 civilian injuries and significant property damage.

The incident occurred on March 6, when two KF-16 fighter jets mistakenly released eight MK-82 bombs over the settlement of Nogok-ri, Pocheon, near the North Korean border, during a live-fire exercise.

“The Criminal Investigation Command has confirmed in the probe to date that the pilots’ erroneous entry of target coordinates was the direct cause of the accident,” the defense ministry said on Thursday, according to Yonhap News Agency. The charged pilots have been relieved from flight duties, and their flight certifications are under review.

The bombing injured at least 29 people, including 15 civilians, with two individuals sustaining serious injuries. The explosions, which occurred outside the designated firing range, caused extensive damage to civilian structures, including five houses, a church, a warehouse, and a greenhouse.

In response to the incident, the South Korean Air Force has suspended all live-fire exercises and grounded training flights pending a thorough investigation. The Air Force Chief of Staff has apologized and pledged to review mission procedures to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

United States Forces Korea (USFK) said that no US Air Force aircraft were involved in the botched live-fire exercise. However, the mishap has raised concerns among local residents about the safety of such drills near civilian areas. Pocheon and neighboring regions host training grounds used by the militaries of both South Korea and the US.

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North Korea has criticized the joint drills, stating that such accidents highlight the risk of these exercises escalating into armed conflict, particularly if ordnance were to inadvertently cross into North Korean territory.

“There is no need to explain how the situation would have developed if a bomb had been dropped towards the north a little further to cross the border of the DPRK,” North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said in a commentary on Wednesday. “It is not unreasonable to imagine that an accidental spark might plunge the Korean Peninsula, the region, and the rest of the world into a new armed conflict.”

The incident occurred ahead of the annual Freedom Shield exercises, a major joint military drill between South Korea and the United States, which commenced on March 10 and will finish on March 20. While live-fire drills have been suspended, the command post exercises have proceeded as planned. On Wednesday, they simulated an assault on a North Korean facility suspected of storing an unidentified weapon of mass destruction (WMD).