{"id":21616,"date":"2026-07-30T03:47:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T22:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21616"},"modified":"2026-07-30T03:47:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T22:47:51","slug":"u-s-air-force-lifts-alert-after-white-phosphorus-incident-in-s-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21616","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Air Force lifts alert after white phosphorus incident in S. Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/ph\/st\/th\/5701785364042\/2026\/upi_com\/383a6d9abdd5e0ef1b4c06e2c5a54ff9\/v1.5\/US-Air-Force-lifts-alert-after-white-phosphorus-incident-in-S-Korea.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A US AC-130J Ghostrider gunship is seen at Osan Airbase in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Photo by Chung Sung-Jun \/ EPA<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"story_dl\">July 28 (Asia Today) &#8212;<\/span> The U.S. Air Force said Tuesday that it had lifted all safety restrictions at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, after responding to an incident involving white phosphorus.<\/p>\n<p>The 51st Fighter Wing, part of the U.S. 7th Air Force, said all operations at the base had returned to normal.\n<\/p>\n<p>Authorities temporarily restricted access to an area extending about 300 meters, or 980 feet, from the base after receiving a report of a possible white phosphorus leak in Seotan Township.<\/p>\n<p>The fighter wing said personnel conducting a routine ammunition inspection found residue inside a munitions container caused by crystallized white phosphorus.<\/p>\n<p>White phosphorus is used in smoke-producing munitions and can ignite when exposed to air. It can cause severe burns if it comes into contact with skin.<\/p>\n<p>The wing dispatched an explosive ordnance disposal team and immediately activated its multilayered safety procedures. The affected ammunition was secured and safely managed, the wing said.<\/p>\n<p>Officials later lifted the restricted perimeter after bringing the situation fully under control.<\/p>\n<p>No injuries were reported. The wing said the incident posed no danger to military personnel, their families or nearby residents.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The safety of our airmen, their families and our neighbors in the Pyeongtaek community is our highest priority,&#8221; 51st Fighter Wing Commander Col. Ryan Ley said.\n<\/p>\n<p>Ley thanked the community for its patience and cooperation while trained personnel safely resolved the localized incident.<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8212; Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u00a9 Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Original Korean report: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260728010010461\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260728010010461<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A US AC-130J Ghostrider gunship is seen at Osan Airbase in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Photo by Chung Sung-Jun \/ EPA July 28 (Asia Today) &#8212; The U.S. Air Force said Tuesday that it had lifted all safety restrictions at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, after responding to an incident involving white phosphorus. The&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/sv\/ph\/og\/upi_com\/5701785364042\/2026\/1\/383a6d9abdd5e0ef1b4c06e2c5a54ff9\/v1.5\/US-Air-Force-lifts-alert-after-white-phosphorus-incident-in-S-Korea.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}