The Mojave, a fixed-wing drone developed by US company General Atomics. This photo is unrelated to the article. [Joint Press Corps]
The Mojave, a fixed-wing drone developed by US company General Atomics. This photo is unrelated to the article. [Joint Press Corps]

An unidentified aerial vehicle spotted south of the General Outpost (GOP) line in northern Gyeonggi Province has been confirmed as a US military drone on a training mission, the South Korean military said Thursday.

"An unidentified aerial vehicle was detected Thursday afternoon by our surveillance equipment south of the GOP line in northern Gyeonggi Province," a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said. "Measures were taken in accordance with standard operational procedures, and the craft was confirmed to be a US drone on a training mission."

Residents in areas north of the civilian control line said text messages were sent to village heads at around 2:30 p.m. Thursday alerting them that a drone had been spotted in the Cheorwon area and that people should urgently move outside nearby shelters or checkpoints.

The messages offered no detailed explanation but instructed residents to evacuate, describing it as a real-world incident.

South Korean forces initially detected the drone through surveillance equipment but could not determine whether it belonged to their own side or to North Korea.

The confusion may have arisen because the US military failed to properly notify South Korean authorities of the planned drone training in advance.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is investigating the circumstances under which the US drone flew through the area, including its flight path.


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