Fighter jet misfire casualty number rises to 29, South Korea says

SEOUL, South Korea — The number of people injured when South Korean fighter jets accidentally dropped bombs on a civilian area has increased to 29 from 15, the country’s Ministry of National Defense said Friday.

The casualties include 15 civilians and 14 military personnel, the ministry said. Seven civilians and two soldiers remain hospitalized, including two civilians classified as seriously injured, while 20 other people have been treated and discharged, the ministry said.

The accident occurred on Thursday during military training in Pocheon, a northeastern city of about 140,000 people near the heavily fortified border with North Korea. U.S. and South Korean forces were conducting a live-fire drill in preparation for Freedom Shield, an annual U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise that is set to get underway Monday.

A total of eight 500-pound MK-82 bombs were “abnormally released” by two South Korean air force KF-16s, landing outside the designated firing range.

While the Freedom Shield exercise is going ahead as planned, Col. Ryan Donald, spokesperson for U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), said Friday that the U.S. and South Korean militaries had agreed to pause all live-fire training until further notice.

USFK said earlier that no U.S. Air Force aircraft participated in the exercise.

South Korea, a U.S. treaty ally, hosts almost 30,000 U.S. service members. The Freedom Shield exercise, which runs from March 10 to 20, is designed to strengthen the alliance’s combined defense posture in the face of growing threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.

North Korea criticized the Freedom Shield exercise on Friday, saying it would worsen the situation on the Korean Peninsula and violate its “sovereignty, security and interests.”

“If the U.S. continues to renew its record of military muscle-flexing, we will have no option but to renew our record of displaying strategic deterrent,” the state-run KCNA news agency said in a commentary.

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