According to Yonhap News Agency's report on August 3, the South Korean Joint Staff Headquarters stated that the incident where the South Korean military mistook a U.S. drone for an unidentified flying object at the end of last month was due to communication problems between the South Korean and U.S. military.
According to previous reports, on July 30 local time, the South Korean military discovered an 'unknown aircraft' in the northern border area. It was initially believed to be a North Korean drone, and the military urgently deployed helicopters and ground anti-aircraft weapons to intercept it. Some residents nearby were also notified to evacuate. About one and a half hours later, the South Korean military confirmed that the aircraft, which had drawn the attention of frontline troops, was actually a U.S. Marine Corps reconnaissance drone participating in a joint exercise between South Korea and the United States.
The results of the investigation by the U.S. Army Joint Staff indicate that the U.S. military informed the 1st Infantry Division in the form of text messages on mobile phones about the drone flight plans one day before the training, but no related documents were sent separately. The 1st Infantry Division responded with a statement saying “no restrictions apply,” and did not report this matter to higher-ranking officials or units. It is understood that the relevant officials may have believed that the altitude at which the U.S. drones would fly would be below a certain level, thus allowing the 1st Infantry Division to decide on the matter independently. However, the altitude at which the U.S. drones flew exceeded the expectations of the 1st Infantry Division, leading the Korean Army to misidentify them as unidentified aircraft during the exercise and activate its air defense system, nearly resulting in their destruction.
According to Yonhap, some experts argue that while the first army's failure to report a U.S. drone flight plan was a serious mistake, there are also issues with the U.S. military's procedures for notifying drone flight plans. According to regulations, approval is required before conducting flight training in special airspace. This involves sending a formal letter to the relevant military unit and obtaining approval from the Air Force Operations Command or the Ground Operations Command. However, it is reported that using text messages has become a routine communication method between the Korean and U.S. militaries at different levels of command.
According to the Korean Daily News, a source within the South Korean military stated that although the incident avoided accidentally hitting a U.S. drone, the entire handling process revealed more serious issues. The source said, “It’s fortunate that we didn’t mistakenly shoot down the U.S. drone. But if it really was a North Korean drone crossing the border, wouldn’t we have been caught off guard?”
"North Korea News" also pointed out that this was not the first time training information transmission between US and South Korea has been problematic. In February of this year, US military conducted a large-scale aerial exercise near the west coast of South Korea. South Korean Defense Minister An Kiu-be had then accused the US of failing to notify them beforehand. The US military responded by saying that they had informed South Korean ground forces about the exercise plans, but that information was not officially relayed to senior officials like the South Korean Defense Minister and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman.
This incident, where a US drone was nearly intercepted by the Korean army, once again demonstrates that the problem may not be simply a lack of communication between South Korea and the US. It also indicates that information within the Korean army cannot be transmitted from frontline combat units to higher levels and relevant units in a timely manner. In a highly tense security environment along the border, such information gaps could not only lead to “friendly fire,” but also affect the Korean army’s ability to identify and respond to real cross-border threats.
