Home > National > Defense

Air Force investigation finds two officers negligent in Pocheon residential bombing

Published: 14 Apr. 2025, 15:20

Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Young-su speaks during a briefing on the Pocheon fighter jet misfire accident at the Defense Ministry complex in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on March 10. [NEWS1]

The Defense Ministry's Investigation Command booked two Air Force officers on charges of negligence in connection with a mistaken bombing of a residential area last month during a live-fire training exercise in Pocheon, Gyeonggi, the command announced Monday.

The charges come after the command had already booked the two pilots involved in the accident.

“The wing commander and squadron commander failed to verify and supervise the pilots’ training readiness as required by regulations, overlooked the risks of the live-ammunition exercise and did not review the live-ammunition training plan,” the command said. “We found a strong causal link between the command failures and the mistaken bombing.”

The incident occurred on March 6, when a fighter jet participating in an MK-82 air-to-ground bomb drill at a training site in Pocheon misfired on a nearby civilian area.

Investigators determined that the pilot had entered incorrect target coordinates and skipped verification procedures.

The Investigation Command added that the pilots had been aware of the misfire through radio communications and that neither had conducted a simulated live-ammunition flight path during pretraining exercises.

The military also investigated why the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other upper-level commands received delayed reports of the incident.

The Air Force Operations Command learned of the misfire at 10:07 a.m. on the day of the accident but delayed its report while attempting to confirm the exact drop point and area of impact.

Air Force Operations Command officials waited until bomb fragments had been positively identified before informing the media, believing that full verification should take priority, the command said.

Investigators found that nine officials — seven from the Air Force and two from the Joint Chiefs of Staff — bore some level of fault for the delayed reporting and inadequate response.

They referred the findings to each official’s unit for disciplinary review. The Air Force plans to issue a warning to the Air Force operations commander for his leadership failures and delayed reporting.

The two pilots and two commanders will be transferred to the military court following the conclusion of the investigation.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]