▲ This undated file photo shows an F-4 Phantom fighter taking off from an Air Force base in Cheongju, 137 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) fighter-crash

(LEAD) S. Korean F-4E fighter crashes during operation over Yellow Sea: Air Force

(ATTN: UPDATES with details in last para; ADDS photo)

SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean F-4E fighter jet crashed during a security mission over the Yellow Sea on Friday, the Air Force said, with its two pilots having escaped safely.

The crash took place at 12:20 p.m. when the jet was on its way back to its base in Suwon, 35 kilometers south of Seoul, the armed service said. There is no report of damage to civilians as of now.

The Air Force set up a team to investigate the exact cause of the incident.

The crash came as the military has been working on a plan to decommission the aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s -- first introduced here in the late 1970s -- in 2024 and in the late 2020s, respectively.

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