The ROK Air Force is very luck no one was killed in this accidental bombing strike because this could have been far more tragic:
The number of houses damaged in last week’s accidental bombing of a northern village has grown from 58 to 142 following a second survey, the local government said Sunday.
The village in Pocheon, some 40 kilometers north of Seoul, suffered large-scale damage after two KF-16 fighter jets “abnormally” dropped eight MK-82 bombs outside a training range during live-fire drills on Thursday.
Initially, 58 houses were reported damaged, but the number grew to 99 as of Saturday morning, and following a second survey, grew further to 142, according to the Pocheon municipal government.
Twenty-two households have evacuated their homes, while another nine households have returned following partial restoration work.
The number of injured civilians has also increased by two to 19.
You can read more at the link, but the Stars & Stripes is reporting that the wrong coordinates were entered causing the accidental bombing:
Initial investigations found the pilot of one of the KF-16s entered wrong coordinates for a bombing site. Officials said the pilots of two KF-16s had more than 200-400 hours of flying time. Lee said they likely piloted KF-16s only two to three years.
You can read more at the link, but these pilots did not have a lot of flight hours which I would not be surprised contributed to this accident.
Here was a Sunday surprise for impeached President Yoon:
Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was released from jail Saturday, a day after a court’s ruling that allowed him to stand trial without physical detention over his failed bid to impose martial law in December.
Waving to his supporters, Yoon walked out of the Seoul Detention Center, 52 days after he was detained on charges of inciting an insurrection. However, impeachment and criminal trials against Yoon will continue.
Yoon’s release came shortly after Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung decided not to appeal the court’s ruling to release the suspended president.
Bowing deeply to his supporters, Yoon arrived at his official residence in central Seoul on Saturday evening.
(Yonhap)
You can read more at the link.
Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.
Whatever family this North Korean Soldier has are definitely in labor camps now with him providing intelligence information to the ROK:
A North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine said that the North has military training camps that feature mockups of facilities and buildings in Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island, according to a South Korean lawmaker who recently met the soldier on Thursday.
Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the ruling People Power Party made the remarks in an interview with SBS radio, as he released an audio clip of the North Korean soldier, identified only by his surname Ri. Ri is one of two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces in January during combat against Kyiv in Russia’s Kursk region.
“When you go to the place where we train, called the Armed Forces Training Ground, it is filled with buildings modeled after the terrain of Seoul’s Jongno District, as well as Busan, Daegu, Jeonju, and Jeju Island,” Ri said in the audio recording.
The training site, apparently aimed at simulating raids on South Korea, is located in Koksan County in North Hwanghae Province in North Korea, Ri said.
Although it has been known that North Korea has built training sites resembling the former presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae for military exercises in the past, Yu said, “The existence of such a facility specifically in Koksan was largely unknown.”
You can read more at the link, but this really shouldn’t be surprising that North Korea would have these mock ups. I think the only thing surprising is a mock up of Jeju island. That would be logistically very challenging for the North Koreans to pull off any kind of operation there, but obviously they are training for it.
UPDATE #1: It is now being reported that not one, but two KF-16’s mistakenly bombed the village. I am not a fighter pilot, but how does something like this happen?:
Several people were injured Thursday in Pocheon city after two South Korean fighter jets accidentally released eight live bombs outside a practice range, according to South Korea’s air force. The MK-82 bombs were “abnormally” dropped at 10:04 a.m. Thursday beyond an unspecified live-fire range by a pair of KF-16 fighters, according to an air force statement to reporters that day. Each jet dropped four bombs, according to the air force. The bombs were not practice rounds, a Ministry of National Defense spokesman said by phone Thursday. The MK-82 is a 500-pound, 7-foot-long free-fall bomb also employed by the U.S. military. The KF-16 is the South Korean air force’s variant of the U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon. At least 15 people, including area residents, were injured in the incident, Yonhap News reported Thursday.
Original Posting: This a huge mistake that hopefully will not have repercussions on USFK’s continued use of Rodriguez Range as a live fire location:
An Air Force fighter jet on Thursday misdropped eight bombs outside a training range during live-fire drills, injuring civilians in the area, officials said.
The KF-16 fighter jet taking part in a live-fire exercise “abnormally” released eight MK-82 bombs outside the training range in Pocheon, 42 kilometers northeast of Seoul, at 10:04 a.m.
The Air Force said it is conducting an investigation into the accident and apologized for the damage to civilians.
You can read more at the link, but locals have complained about live fire training at Rodriguez Range near Pocheon. It will be interesting to see what caused this horrible accident because I have never heard of something like this ever happening before.
If it seems like there are a lot of foreigners living in South Korea now a days it is because there are compared to the recent past:
The number of foreign residents in Korea reached a record high last year, accounting for more than 5 percent of the country’s total population, justice ministry data showed Monday.
According to the Korea Immigration Service, a justice ministry agency, the number of foreigners living in Korea stood at 2.65 million, making up 5.17 percent of the total population. This marks an increase of 126,127 from the previous high in 2019 and surpasses the 4.89 percent level recorded in 2023.
Over the past decade, Korea has seen a steady rise in foreign residents, from 1.9 million in 2015 to 2.52 million in 2019. Although the numbers declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they rebounded in 2022 and have continued to rise since.
You can read more at the link.
With North Korea re-opened to Western tourists, applications are now being accepted for the Pyongyang Marathon on 6 April 2025, as per @KoryoTours.
— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) March 3, 2025
