Variety of folks injured after fighter jets by accident drop bombs rises to 29, South Korea says

SEOUL, South Korea — The variety of folks injured when South Korean fighter jets by accident dropped bombs on a civilian space has elevated to 29 from 15, the Nationwide Protection Ministry stated Friday.

These injured embody 15 civilians and 14 navy personnel, the ministry stated. Seven civilians and two troopers stay hospitalized, together with two civilians categorised as significantly injured, whereas 20 different folks have been handled and discharged, it stated.

The accident occurred Thursday throughout navy coaching in Pocheon, a northeastern metropolis of about 140,000 folks close to the closely fortified border with North Korea. U.S. and South Korean forces have been conducting a live-fire drill in preparation for Freedom Defend, an annual U.S.-South Korea joint navy train that’s set to get underway Monday.

A South Korean soldier close to the positioning of the incident in Pocheon on Thursday.Yonhap / AFP – Getty Photographs

A complete of eight 500-pound MK-82 bombs have been “abnormally launched” by two South Korean air drive KF-16s, touchdown exterior the designated firing vary.

Whereas the Freedom Defend train goes forward as deliberate, Col. Ryan Donald, spokesperson for U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), stated Friday that the U.S. and South Korean militaries had agreed to pause all live-fire coaching till additional discover.

USFK stated earlier that no U.S. Air Pressure plane participated within the train.

Two South Korean Air Force fighter jets accidentally dropped eight bombs on a village during a joint training exercise with US forces on March 6, 2025, officials said, with civilians among 15 people injured. — A 2015 picture exhibits South Korean KF-16 fighter jets dropping bombs on a mountain goal in Pocheon, South Korea.Jung Yeon-Je / AFP – Getty Photographs file

South Korea, a U.S. treaty ally, hosts nearly 30,000 U.S. service members. The Freedom Defend train, which runs for 10 days from March 10, is designed to strengthen the alliance’s mixed protection posture within the face of rising threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.

North Korea criticized the Freedom Defend train Friday, saying it might worsen the state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula and violate its “sovereignty, safety and pursuits.”

“If the U.S. continues to resume its file of navy muscle-flexing, we may have no choice however to resume our file of displaying strategic deterrent,” the state-run KCNA information company stated in a commentary.

Stella Kim reported from Seoul, and Julia Zhong reported from Hong Kong.