Air Force apologizes, reaffirms pilot error
Pilot failed to check coordinates 3 times in fighter jet bombing accident: Air Force
The two pilots accused of mistakenly dropping bombs on a civilian district last week, failed to follow the mandatory procedure of checking the coordinates at least three times, South Korea's Air Force said in a statement.
While reaffirming pilot error as the cause of the accident that left 29 people injured, including 15 civilians, in the border city of Pocheon on Thursday, the Air Force explained that the target coordinates were first incorrectly entered before takeoff.
"The pilot of the first aircraft should have checked the target at least three times throughout the process of the assignment, but failed to do so," the Air Force said.
Two KF-16 fighter jets are blamed for accidentally dropping MK-82 bombs outside a training range during the first South Korea-US live-fire drills of the year, linked to the annual springtime joint exercise between the allies that kicked off Monday.
'Prior to their takeoff, the pilot of the first aircraft shared the coordinates with the pilot of the second aircraft, who incorrectly entered them in the joint mission planning system (the military's computerized planning system),' the armed services added. 'They should've double checked the coordinates, but did not do so — which marks their first mistake.'
Then it became a chain of mistakes. The two pilots continued to save and transfer the incorrect coordinates to a data transfer cartridge, which is fitted on the aircrafts before takeoff. The cartridge on the second aircraft, however, suffered a technical malfunction, which led to the second pilot having to reenter the coordinates himself. While the second pilot managed to correct the coordinates in the process, the first pilot failed to recognize the erroneous numbers.
The first pilot, after takeoff, discovered that the flight trajectory was different to the one taken during the preparatory training course, but went ahead with the bombing in order to meet the target time.
The Air Force pledged to bolster measures to confirm target coordinates in military exercises and said that the accident was not only caused by pilot error, but inadequate management and inspection procedures.
"The Air Force, which should protect the lives and property of the people, inflicted harm on the people," Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Young-su said in a public apology. "It was an accident that should never have happened and one that should not reoccur."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
7 days ago
- Korea Herald
Lee holds 1st Cabinet meeting with Yoon's ministers
Lee drops Han's Constitutional Court judge nominations; call with Trump being arranged, according to spokesperson President Lee Jae-myung held the first Cabinet meeting of his term on Thursday, where he asked ministers and heads of agencies, all appointed by his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, to do their best while they are in office. "We need to put people first, and do the best we can at the given moment," Lee told Cabinet members at the meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul. "Of course, some of you might feel this is quite awkward, but at the end of the day, we all work for the people. We cannot make light of the responsibilities entrusted upon us by the people, and I trust you to do your best." As Lee was elected in a by-election after Yoon was impeached and removed from office, the president did not have a transition period following Tuesday's election. He begins his term with Cabinet members appointed by the last administration. "It will take some time before I get the administration in order. While I do that, people are going through a difficult time, and I'd like to make that time shorter as much as I can," Lee said. Later in the day, Lee's spokesperson, Kang Yu-jung, said the president dropped nominations for Constitutional Court justices made by former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo while he was acting president. Han nominated Government Legislation Minister Lee Wan-kyu and Seoul High Court Justice Ham Sang-hun to succeed two outgoing Constitutional Court justices. The Democratic Party had slammed Han when he made the appointments, saying an acting president should not have the same authority as an elected president to fill such vacancies. A call is being arranged between US President Donald Trump and Lee, according to Kang. "For now, we are in the process of coordinating the phone call. We cannot confirm anything at this stage," she told reporters. The US Congressional Korea Caucus congratulated Lee on his election victory. In a statement Thursday, co-chairs of the Congressional Korea Caucus, Reps. Ami Bera, Marilyn Strickland, Joe Wilson and Mike Kelly, said they wished Lee and his administration well to "lead the Republic of Korea, a key and indispensable ally, through the many challenges facing the Korean Peninsula and beyond." 'As co-chairs of the Korea Caucus, we remain steadfastly committed to defending, strengthening, and enlarging the ironclad US-Korea alliance," they said. Questions remain whether Lee, who had been battling simultaneous criminal trials before he was elected, will continue to attend his court cases as a sitting president. The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a jail sentence of seven years and eight months for Lee's deputy dating to when he was Gyeonggi Province governor for the illegal transfer of funds to North Korea. The $8 million, the court said, were sent to North Korea to facilitate Lee's visit to Pyongyang. Lee has denied involvement in or knowledge of the scheme. The Democratic Party of Korea says the courts must suspend Lee's criminal trials. "Since he has assumed office as president, his criminal cases ought to be suspended under the Constitution. This is not a matter of debate," Rep. Jo Seoung-lae, the party's chief spokesperson, said Thursday. Article 84 of the Constitution says incumbent presidents are immune from criminal prosecution, but it does not state what should happen to criminal trials that are already underway. According to exit polls, 64 percent of voters said they believe Lee's criminal trials should continue even if he became president, while 26 percent said they should be delayed until after his term as president. On the day of his inauguration Wednesday, Lee announced the first set of nominations for key positions. Lee plucked Kim Min-seok from the Democratic Party leadership to serve as prime minister and named Kang Hoon-sik, a three-time Democratic Party lawmaker, as his chief of staff. As for his national security team, the president tapped Lee Jong-seok, who was unification minister for the late President Roh Moo-hyun, for director of the National Intelligence Service, and Wi Sung-lac, who was ambassador to Russia, for director of the National Security Office. Cabinet members have to go through a confirmation hearing and be confirmed by the National Assembly before they are appointed. Lee won the presidential election Tuesday with 49.42 percent of the vote against 41.15 percent that went to his People Power Party opponent Kim Moon-soo.
Korea Herald
03-06-2025
- Korea Herald
Russian rockets kill 3 in a Ukrainian city as Kyiv claims it damaged a key bridge deep in Russia
A Russian attack targeted the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Tuesday, killing at least three people and leaving many injured, officials said. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the assault, saying it underscored that Moscow has no intentions of halting the three-year war . Meanwhile, Ukraine's secret services said they struck again in Russia's rear, two days after a spectacular Ukrainian drone attack on air bases deep inside Russia. In Sumy, local authorities said a barrage of rockets struck apartment buildings and a medical facility in the center of the northeastern city, a day after direct peace talks made no progress on ending the 3-year war . Delegations from the warring sides held talks in Istanbul on Monday and agreed to swap dead and wounded troops but their terms for ending the war remained far apart. The Ukrainian Security Service, known by its acronym SBU, claimed it damaged the foundations of the Kerch Bridge linking Russia and illegally annexed Crimea — a key artery for Russian military supplies in the war. The SBU said it detonated 1,100 kilograms of explosives on the seabed overnight, damaging the bridge's foundations in an operation that took several months to set up. It was the third Ukrainian strike on the bridge since Russia's invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, the SBU said. 'The bridge is now effectively in an emergency condition,' the SBU claimed. It said no civilians were killed or injured in the operation. It was not possible to independently confirm the claims. Traffic across the Kerch Bridge was halted for three hours early Tuesday morning but reopened at 9 a.m., official Russian social media channels said. The Ukrainian president said the attack on Sumy was a "completely deliberate strike on civilians and that one of the rockets pierced the wall of an apartment building but failed to detonate. 'The Russians brutally struck Sumy — directly targeting the city, ordinary streets — with rocket artillery," Zelenskyy said. 'That's all you need to know about Russia's 'desire' to end this war,' the Ukrainian president wrote in a post on Telegram. Zelenskyy appealed for global pressure and 'decisive action from the United States, Europe, and everyone in the world who holds power' — without it, he said, Russian President Vladimir Putin "will not agree even to a ceasefire.' The war has killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides along the roughly 1,000-kilometer front line where the war of attrition is grinding on despite US-led efforts to broker a peace deal . Though Russia has a bigger army and more economic resources than Ukraine, a spectacular Ukrainian drone attack over the weekend damaged or destroyed more than 40 warplanes at air bases deep inside Russia, Ukrainian officials said, touting it as a serious blow to the Kremlin's strategic arsenal and its military prestige. The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that the Ukrainian attack set several planes ablaze at two air bases but said that the military repelled attempted attacks on three other air bases. Both Zelenskyy and Putin have been eager to show US President Donald Trump that they share his ambition to end the fighting — and also avoid possible punitive measures from Washington. Ukraine has accepted a US-proposed ceasefire, but the Kremlin effectively rejected it. Putin has made it clear that any peace settlement has to be on his terms. Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who now serves as deputy head of the country's Security Council chaired by Putin, indicated on Tuesday that there would be no let-up in Russia's invasion of its neighbor. 'The Istanbul talks are not for striking a compromise peace on someone else's delusional terms but for ensuring our swift victory and the complete destruction of (Ukraine's government),' he said. In an apparent comment on the latest Ukrainian strikes, he declared that 'retribution is inevitable.' 'Our army is pushing forward and will continue to advance,' Medvedev said, adding that 'everything that needs to be blown up will be blown up, and those who must be eliminated will be.' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to suggestions that a face-to-face meeting between Putin, Trump and Zelenskyy could break the deadlock, said the possibility was 'unlikely in the near future.' Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian delegation led by First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko has travelled to Washington for talks about defense, sanctions and postwar recovery, Andrii Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, said Tuesday. The delegation will meet with representatives from both major US political parties, as well as with advisors to Trump, Yermak added. Ukrainians on the streets of Kyiv welcomed the strikes on Russian air bases but were gloomy about prospects for a peace agreement. 'Russia has invested too many resources in this war to just … stop for nothing,' said serviceman Oleh Nikolenko, 43. His wife, Anastasia Nikolenko, a 38-year-old designer, said diplomacy can't stop the fighting. "We need to show by force, by physical force, that we cannot be defeated,' she said. Russia recently expanded its attacks on Sumy and in the Kharkiv region following Putin's promise to create a buffer zone along the border that might prevent long-range Ukrainian attacks hitting Russian soil. The city of Sumy, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the border, had a prewar population of around 250,000. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed Tuesday its troops had taken the Ukrainian village of Andriivka, close to the border in the Sumy region. Ukraine made no immediate comment on the claim, which could not be independently verified. (AP)
Korea Herald
28-05-2025
- Korea Herald
Hybe founder Bang probed over IPO flaws
Bang Si-hyuk, founder and chairman of the K-pop powerhouse Hybe, has been under investigation over charges that he intentionally misled investors ahead of the company's stock market debut, industry sources said Wednesday. According to the sources, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the country's financial watchdog, has been probing Bang on speculation that he had sought to list Hybe on the stock market while stressing that there was no plan for Hybe's initial public offering (IPO). The sources said Bang signed a deal with private equity funds in 2020 to share a portion of the gains from the Hybe's IPO, and the Hybe chairman received some 400 billion won (US$291.3 million). But in 2019, Bang said to investors that Hybe's stock market listing was impossible while applying for a designated external auditor for its IPO, according to the sources. Hybe, listed on the Korean stock market in October 2020, closed at 265,000 won Wednesday, down 7.33 percent from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
