The Air Force clarified that the fighter jet misfire incident that occurred in the vicinity of Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, on the 6th was due to "a pilot's error in entering coordinates."
An Air Force official stated during a briefing in the afternoon regarding the fighter jet misfire incident, "We confirmed through the pilot's statements that the pilot entered the wrong coordinates during the flight preparation process," and added, "There is also a process to input the original coordinates and visually identify during live-fire training."
An official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, "There are procedures for verifying coordinates, whether on the ground or in the air. We currently understand that a mistake occurred during this process," and explained, "There is also a procedure for dropping munitions after additional verification in the air."
A Ministry of National Defense official mentioned regarding the cause of the misfire incident, "Aircraft No. 1 entered the coordinates incorrectly," adding, "The Air Force needs to verify the subsequent launch by the pilot of aircraft No. 2." Furthermore, he noted that the Ministry of National Defense would suspend all live-fire training until the cause of this incident is clearly identified.
At around 10:04 a.m. that day, two KF-16s participating in live-fire training dropped four MK-82 munitions each at the shooting range, resulting in a misfire incident. Two people were seriously injured and 13 sustained minor injuries. Additionally, it was reported that five dwellings, one church, one plastic greenhouse, and one cargo vehicle were damaged.