SEOUL, March 10 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- The top South Korean Air Force commander issued a public apology on Monday over the accidental bombing of a civilian village by fighter jets last week, calling it an accident that "should never have happened.", Yonhap News Agency reported.
Two KF-16 fighter jets "abnormally" dropped eight MK-82 bombs outside a training range in Pocheon, some 40 kilometres north of Seoul, during live-fire drills on Thursday, injuring 29, including 15 civilians.
"The Air Force, which should protect the lives and property of the people, inflicted harm to the people," Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Lee Young-su said in a press briefing. "It was an accident that should never have happened, and one that should not recur."
Lee took the blame for the accident, an unprecedented mistaken bombing on a civilian town, and vowed efforts to prevent such accidents going forward.
He also promised utmost efforts to help affected residents return to their daily lives and compensate them, in addition to providing medical and crisis support.
Pilot error is suspected to have caused the accidental bombing as one of the pilots of the jets entered the wrong target coordinates prior to takeoff, the Air Force earlier said, citing an initial probe.
The military has suspended all live-fire training until the exact cause of the accident is determined.
-- BERNAMA-YONHAP
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