South Korea military sorry for firing at plane

SOUTH Korea's military has apologised to the country for an incident in which two Marines fired at a civilian airliner after mistaking it for a North Korean warplane.

But it reiterated that the pair will not face punishment for the pre-dawn firing last Friday.

"The military sincerely apologises to our people for causing worries over the incident," said Colonel Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But Lee, quoted by Yonhap news agency, said the Marines will not be reprimanded since they acted in line with rules of engagement.

Instead, the military would strengthen training for soldiers at frontline guard posts so they can distinguish between civilian and military aircraft.

With cross-border tensions high, the Marines guarding an island near the Yellow Sea border fired their K-2 rifles at an Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 flying in fog over the sea.

The plane, which was descending to land at Incheon International Airport, was out of range and undamaged.

Lee said the pair fired a total of 99 rounds towards the plane for some four minutes, with tracer accounting for nearly half of the total.

They opened fire immediately after reporting what they believed to be a North Korean military aircraft to their platoon leader.

The platoon leader in turn reported the incident to the Air Force's Master Control and Reporting Center (MCRC).

But the spokesman said it took about 20 minutes for the centre to notify the guard post that the aircraft was a civilian Airbus.

"While the MCRC tried immediately to notify the guard post using a telephone, the Marines at the post didn't come on the line because they were taking additional measures to track the plane at that time," Lee said.

The plane, with 119 people on board, was following a normal route from the southwest Chinese city of Chengdu, the airline said.

South Korean soldiers are on alert for possible attacks by North Korea amid simmering cross-border tensions, and following two deadly border incidents last year.

Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin has told frontline troops that if the North Koreans attack, they should strike back immediately without waiting for orders from top commanders about how to respond.

Herald Sun