Story thread · 7 reports / 3 sources

Military seeks closer coordination with US forces after drone misidentification

koreatimes.co.kr · 7dShare

The Korean military has shifted its focus from assigning blame to preventing a recurrence after an internal investigation into last week's misidentification of a U.S. Marine Corps drone found procedural shortcomings on both sides. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) concluded that failures by both Korea and the U.S. contributed to the incident, in which a U.S. drone flying during a bilateral exercise was mistaken for an unidentified aircraft, triggering the military's highest-level counter-drone response. These findings have prompted follow-up measures aimed at strengthening airspace coordination while broader command responsibilities also came under review. According to the JCS, a working-level officer at the Army’s 1st Corps received a text message from the U.S. side a day before the flight but failed to relay the information to higher headquarters or relevant units. The text referenced only a previously approved live-fire altitude, but an official document attached as a photo to the mes

First report: (URGENT) U.S. drone mixup caused by communication error at working-level: S. Korean military — en.yna.co.kr, 8d