U.S. Notified South Korea of Drone Flight, but Frontline Troops Prepared to Shoot It Down Due to Communication Breakdown

The South Korean military's misidentification of a U.S. military drone as a North Korean aircraft during joint drills in the frontline area of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on July 30 is suspected to have stemmed from a failure to report within the South Korean military ranks.

While the U.S. military maintains that it notified South Korea in advance of its drone flight plan, the South Korean military claims it was unaware of it.

It is presumed that a working-level mistake during the South Korean military's internal reporting process prevented the U.S. drone flight plan from being relayed to higher headquarters.

According to the military on July 31, the U.S. Marine Corps drone in question was spotted the previous afternoon near the Story Firing Range close to the armistice line in Paju.

Managed by the U.S. military, the Story Firing Range is a training site located in the frontline area about 3.7 kilometers from the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).

At the time, the South Korean and U.S. Marine Corps were conducting KMEP, a joint bilateral marine exercise, at the range.

The training reportedly involved firing 81mm mortar practice rounds and identifying targets using drones.

However, frontline units conducting security operations nearby were unaware that a U.S. Marine Corps drone would be operating in the area, leading them to issue an air defense combat posture against an enemy drone and prepare to shoot it down.

This could have resulted in a major disaster where South Korean forces attacked U.S. military assets near the armistice line during a joint exercise, but fortunately, the military did not actually fire anti-aircraft weapons or other air defense assets.

Through tracking and surveillance, the military confirmed that the drone belonged to the U.S. Marine Corps.

As controversy grew, the U.S. military stated that it had notified the South Korean military in advance of its joint training plans, including the drone flight schedule.

For the U.S. military to operate drones in border areas, it must notify the competent South Korean military unit in advance, which then passes the plan up to either the Ground Operations Command or the Air Force Operations Command for approval depending on the altitude.

For the joint exercise in Paju, the Army's 1st Corps served as that intermediary competent unit.

United States Forces Korea notified the 1st Corps of the drone flight plan, but for reasons unknown, the plan reportedly was not forwarded to the Ground Operations Command or the Air Force Operations Command.

Consequently, the drone naturally failed to receive flight approval.

The Ground Operations Command remained unaware of the U.S. drone's flight plan even until the day of the incident.

Questions also need to be addressed regarding whether the means and methods used by the U.S. military to notify the flight plan were appropriate, and whether it was proper to fly a drone that had not received final approval.

An official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, "Regarding the U.S. drone incident, the Joint Chiefs of Staff's Operational Readiness Inspection Office plans to visit the 1st Corps to check overall matters," adding, "We will verify the communication processes and procedures between South Korea and the U.S."

A USFK official also stated, "We are currently checking the situation and circumstances at the time, including coordination procedures," and added, "The U.S. side is also conducting its own investigation while closely cooperating with the South Korean military to verify the facts."

This is not the first time that communication errors between the South Korean and U.S. military authorities have caused tension on the Korean Peninsula.

In February of this year, when a large number of USFK F-16 fighters sortied over the Yellow Sea, Chinese military fighters also sortied, creating a standoff. At the time, South Korean military authorities protested that USFK had not shared specific training plans in advance.

It was a critical situation where South Korean military leadership, including Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Jin Young-seung, lodged direct protests with USFK Commander Xavier Brunson.

At the time, however, USFK countered that it had notified the South Korean military in advance of the Yellow Sea training plan.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.