Military reviews communication lapse after U.S. drone mistaken for unidentified aircraft

Military authorities are reviewing an incident in which the Korean military mistakenly identified a U.S. drone taking part in a joint exercise as an unidentified aircraft and prepared to engage it.

"The Joint Chiefs of Staff's [JCS] combat readiness inspection office plans to visit the Army's 1st Corps today to examine the overall situation surrounding the U.S. drone incident in northern Gyeonggi," a JCS official told reporters Friday morning.

The visit is intended to look into why the military mistook a U.S. reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle deployed for the Korea Marine Corps Exercise Program — a joint Korea-U.S. Marine Corps exercise — for an unidentified aircraft. The JCS will be reviewing actions taken by the Army's 1st Corps, which is responsible for security in the area.

The U.S. drone was detected Thursday afternoon near Story Live-Fire Complex, a U.S.-managed training range close to the inter-Korean border in Paju, according to military sources. The Army 1st Corps' thermal observation device and local air defense radar detected it and issued a "durumi," the military's operational readiness posture for responding to drone threats. Air defense assets were deployed as the military determined that an unidentified aircraft without prior flight approval had entered the area north of the civilian control line.

While tracking the aircraft, military authorities later confirmed that it was a VXE30 Stalker, a small U.S. reconnaissance drone participating in the joint Marine Corps exercise.

But front line units were unaware of the exercise and issued a "durumi" alert before preparing to shoot down the aircraft, raising the possibility that a U.S. military asset could have been attacked.

The incident has fueled concerns within and outside the military that a lack of communication between Korean and U.S. military authorities caused the confusion.

While the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) maintains that it notified the Korean military of the joint exercise plan, including the drone's flight plan, the Korean military believes the drone did not receive prior flight approval.

Military authorities believe the confusion stemmed from the Army's 1st Corps failing to properly report the U.S. Marine Corps' joint training plan to its higher headquarters, the Ground Operations Command.

Some have also raised the possibility that the drone's flight plan was never relayed to the higher command because of an error by a military official during the internal reporting process. Others say it must also be confirmed whether the U.S. military submitted the flight plan through the standard notification procedure.

"We plan to determine whether the U.S. side properly requested cooperation from the Korean unit with jurisdiction and whether the responsible Korean unit properly followed the approval process," a JCS official said.

The USFK is also reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident, including the coordination procedures. The U.S. side is conducting its own investigation while working closely with the Korean military to establish the facts.

This is not the first time communication problems between the Korean and U.S. militaries have led to friction.

In February, Chinese fighter jets were scrambled after a large formation of USFK F-16s flew over the Yellow Sea and approached China's Air Defense Identification Zone. The Korean military protested at the time, saying USFK had not shared detailed training plans in advance.

There was a perception within the Korean military that USFK had effectively failed to provide prior notification because it did not disclose the scale or purpose of the exercise through Air Force channels. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and JCS Chair Jin Yong-sung later conveyed Korea's concerns during a coordination call with USFK Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson.

BY SHIM SEOK-YONG [[email protected]]