South Korea Charges Air Force Pilots With Criminal Negligence in Accidental Bombing of Village

South Korea Charges Air Force Pilots With Criminal Negligence in Accidental Bombing of Village
Officials inspect an area with damaged buildings after South Korea's Air Force said that Mk82 bombs fell from a KF-16 jet outside the shooting range during joint live-fire exercises near the demilitarized zone separating two Koreas in Pocheon, South Korea, on March 6, 2025. Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
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SEOUL—South Korean military investigators charged two Air Force pilots on Thursday with criminal negligence over an accidental bombing of a village last week during a training exercise, which injured at least 29 people and caused extensive property damage.

Defence ministry investigators have confirmed that errors by the pilots when they entered coordinates into the aircraft systems were “direct factors” behind the accidental bombing, the ministry’s Criminal Investigation Command said in a statement.