SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has suspended all live-action training flights after Air Force aircraft and fighter jets. Accidental bombing Within the private sector, authorities said Friday that they have brought about a potential setback in the coming years. Military training with the United States.
On Thursday, two South Korean KF-16 fighters mistakenly released four MK-82 bombs each in a civilian region of Pocheon, a city near the tensioned border with North Korea. The bombing that wounded nearly 30 people came when two of them were seriously engaged in live action training in connection with their wider range. Free Shield Command Post Exercises are scheduled to begin on Monday.
This year’s Freedom Shield Exercise is the allies’ first major joint training amid concerns about North Korea’s booming military, when President Donald Trump took office in January. Cooperation with Russia.
South Korea and the US released details of the exercise on Thursday, but were hidden by news of the bombing that sparked intense public criticism in South Korea.
Both the South Korean and US troops have stopped all practical exercises across South Korea. Military officials said the South Korean Air Force has stopped flying the entire aircraft except for surveillance aircraft and other necessary for emergencies.
Military officials said Freedom Shield training will proceed as planned and will resume live-action and flight training after finding the exact cause of the bombing and developing precautions.
But if they can’t resume suspended training by Monday when they begin Freedom Shield exercises with the US military, it will hurt the work of the early parts of the movement, the observer says.
Lee Il-woo, an expert on South Korea’s South Korean defense network, said the suspension of flight training is especially “sacrificing serious problems when investigating the operational plans of both countries.” He said that flying fighters are essential to determine actual capabilities, discuss the scale of US aircraft reinforcement from overseas, and change the operational plans of the allies.
The initial investigation found that one pilot of the KF-16 entered the wrong coordinates of the bombing site. Authorities said the two KF-16 pilots have more than 200-400 hours of flight time. Lee said he only piloted the KF-16 for two or three years.
South Korea and the US military have already begun field exercises in connection with the Freedom Shield, with live-action training on Thursday being one of them. Colonel Ryan Donald, a spokesman for the US military in South Korea, confirmed that American servicemen were taking part in practical training on Thursday, but that US Air Force aircraft were not yet involved.
“We take this incident very seriously. Donald said in a statement using the acronym of the Republic of Korea, the official name of Korea.
The incident happened as North Korea was increasing it A fiery rhetoric Their joint drills are seen as rehearsals of invasion against the US and South Korea. North Korean state news agency warned on Friday that the US and South Korea will “have to pay with sincereness for their stupid and reckless war training.”
Trump has said he will reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong again to revive his diplomacy, but North Korea has not responded to his overture.
There were concerns in South Korea that Trump might reduce US military training in South Korea. complained about the cost After the first summit with Kim, they unilaterally announced the cancellation of one drill, which was unilaterally announced.
However, Lee said Trump knew South Korea’s importance in America’s Indo-Pacific and Chinese policies and would not reduce training with South Korea.
This year’s field training, held alongside Freedom Shield, includes field training at 16 brigade level from 10 drills last year, according to the South Korean military.