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An F-16 shoots off flares during Air Power Day 2019 held at the USFK Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on Sept. 20, 2019. (Yonhap)

The South Korean Air Force reported that one of its fighter aircraft suffered an accident Tuesday when a flare was mistakenly fired during flight.

“At around 1200 hours on Jan. 31, a flare was unintentionally fired from a KF-16 that was returning to Seosan Air Base after completing its mission,” an Air Force official said Wednesday.

“The flare that was launched free-fell and combusted normally,” the official added.

The flare in question serves as a kind of decoy to fool infrared-guided weapon systems.

The misfire happened to take place on a day when US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had key events scheduled during a visit to South Korea, including a meeting with US Forces Korea Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera in the morning and a lunch and defense ministers’ meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup.

The exposure of defense posture weaknesses has previously been a source of controversy for the Air Force.

On Nov. 2 of last year, a KF-16 fighter mobilized in response to a North Korean missile launch attempted to fire two precision-guided missiles, but one of them failed to launch. An F-15K fighter subsequently fired a long-range air-to-surface missile, but problems also caused that launch to fail.

On Dec. 26, a KA-1 light attack aircraft crashed while taking off to participate in an operation to shoot down infiltrating North Korean drones.

By Shin Hyeong-cheol, staff reporter

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