Possibilities are being raised that an internal "reporting omission" within the South Korean military led to troops mistaking a U.S. military drone conducting joint exercises in the front-line area of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on the 30th for a North Korean aircraft.

While the U.S. military stated that it had notified the South Korean military of the drone flight plan in advance, the South Korean military maintained that it was unaware of it.

It is presumed that due to a working-level mistake during the internal reporting process of the South Korean military, the U.S. drone flight plan was not relayed to upper echelons.

According to the military on Friday, 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, Gyeonggi Province.

The Story Firing Range, managed by the U.S. military, is a training ground located in the utmost front-line area about 3.7 kilometers away from the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).

At the time, the South Korean and U.S. Marine Corps were conducting KMEP, a joint South Korea-U.S. Marine Corps exercise, at the Story Firing Range.

It was reportedly conducted in a manner where 81mm mortar practice rounds were fired and targets were identified via drones.

However, front-line units carrying out surveillance operations nearby were unaware that a U.S. Marine Corps drone would be flying in the vicinity, ultimately leading them to issue an air defense operation posture against enemy drones and even prepare for its interception.

This nearly resulted in a massive accident where U.S. forces visiting for joint exercises could have been attacked near the armistice line; 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 the controversy grew, the U.S. military stated that it had informed the South Korean military in advance of its joint exercise plans, including the drone flight plan.

For the U.S. military to fly drones in border areas, it must notify the competent South Korean military unit of the flight plan in advance, and this competent unit must forward it to either the Ground Operations Command (GOC) or the Air Force Operations Command (AFOC) depending on the altitude for approval.

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

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) notified the 1st Corps of the drone flight plan, but for some reason, the U.S. drone flight plan was reportedly not forwarded to the GOC or AFOC.

Consequently, the drone naturally failed to receive flight approval.

The GOC remained unaware of the U.S. drone's flight plan until the day of the incident.

At the same time, issues such as 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 ultimately received approval notice, must also be examined.

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

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

This is not the first time that tensions on the Korean Peninsula have arisen due to communication errors between the South Korean and U.S. military authorities.

In February of this year, when a large number of USFK F-16 fighter jets sortied toward the West Sea and Chinese fighter jets also sortied, leading to a standoff, our military authorities protested at the time, stating 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 JCS Chairman Jin Young-seung, lodged direct protests with USFK Commander Xavier Brunson.

However, USFK countered at the time that it had given prior notice of the West Sea training plan to the South Korean military.

(Photo: Yonhap News)