South Korean fighter jet mistakenly dropped 8 MK-82 bombs on civilian houses

"Eight MK-82 multi-purpose bombs were dropped irregularly from an Air Force KF-16 aircraft, falling outside the designated firing area," the South Korean Air Force said.

The incident occurred at around 10am on March 6 in Pocheon, about 25km south of the border with North Korea.

"We deeply regret the unintentional bombing that caused civilian casualties, and wish the injured a speedy recovery," the South Korean Air Force said in a statement.

They said they had set up an incident response committee to investigate the incident and would "take all necessary measures, including compensation for damages".

The South Korean Air Force said the military aircraft was “participating in a joint live-fire exercise between the Air Force and the Army.”

According to Yonhap news agency, South Korea is conducting joint live-fire drills with the US in Pocheon on March 6.

The bombs were "believed to have fallen on a village during a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States," the National Fire Agency said.

The incident resulted in “casualties and property damage, along with the evacuation of many residents,” the agency said, confirming that four people were seriously injured and three suffered minor injuries.

A church and parts of two homes were damaged, according to the statement.

"Like a thunderclap"

A local resident, who gave only his surname as Park, told Yonhap that he was at home watching TV when the incident occurred.

"I suddenly heard a terrible explosion, like thunder, and the whole house shook. When I stepped outside, everything was chaos," Park said.

Even at a senior center about 1 km away, the explosion could be felt.

"A sudden explosion shook the building. Windows were shattered, and one of our teachers was injured and hospitalized," the center's director, surnamed Yu, told Yonhap.

"Luckily, none of the elderly were injured, but they were very frightened so we took them home," the source added.

The joint military exercises "Freedom Shield" between South Korea and the United States, one of the two security allies' largest annual joint exercises, are scheduled to begin later this month.

The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The US currently has tens of thousands of troops deployed in South Korea, which it says is partly to protect Seoul from threats from Pyongyang.

In 2022, a South Korean Hyunmu-2 short-range ballistic missile accidentally crashed into a military golf course in Gangwon Province, eastern South Korea, after being launched in response to a North Korean missile test.

The missile did not explode and no one was injured in the incident.