On 4/8, Representative Sung Il-jong of the opposition People Power Party (PPP) stated that the South Korean Army's 1st Corps issued an air defense alert, putting forces on standby to open fire. This occurred after an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) appeared a day earlier in the unit's area of responsibility near the border with North Korea.

The UAV was later identified as an aircraft from the South Korean Army's Test and Evaluation Unit, conducting a test flight that had been pre-notified to the 1st Corps. Despite the advance notice, the frontline unit misidentified it as a target requiring engagement.

Representative Sung Il-jong holds a press conference on 4/8 in Seoul. Photo: Yonhap

Representative Sung called the incident a "serious error", demanding Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back resign to take responsibility for severe disciplinary lapses. He stated, "If the military cannot distinguish allied UAVs from enemy ones, the operational system has collapsed completely."

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) confirmed that the test unit had fully notified about the test flight on 3/8. However, the UAV operated at a different altitude than planned, causing confusion among ground forces.

The JCS also rejected Representative Sung's accusation that the Durumi air defense alert system had been activated. The agency criticized Representative Sung for "publicly disclosing operational procedures" of frontline forces, threatening combat readiness and troop morale.

On 30/7, units of the 1st Corps also detected an unidentified UAV in the border area, raising the alert level and preparing to shoot it down.

The South Korean military later identified the target as a US UAV on a mission in the area. US Forces Korea (USFK) also confirmed the UAV, which was nearly shot down, belonged to the Marine Corps and was participating in a joint training exercise with South Korean forces at the time.

The incident was attributed to a "communication glitch" between the two nations' forces.

Drones fly in formation at the Seungjin training ground in Pocheon, South Korea, May 2023. Photo: AFP

Beyond the two near-shootdown incidents involving allied UAVs, the 1st Corps was also found to have instructed soldiers at guard posts not to load heavy machine guns and automatic grenade launchers, but merely to keep ammunition next to the weapons. This information heightened concerns about lax security and inadequate combat readiness among frontline units.

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense announced that General Han Ki-sung, commander of the 1st Corps, has been suspended from duty pending an investigation into the unit's errors.

The commander of the South Korean Army Training and Doctrine Command will assume acting command of the 1st Corps. The Army Operations Command also launched a comprehensive inspection of all five subordinate corps to re-evaluate procedures and weapon management.

Thanh Danh (According to Yonhap, Korea Times)