ROK Military Nearly Engaged U.S. Drone Along the DMZ
It appears the ROK Marine Corps was aware of the drone, but not the Army that nearly engaged it:
A warning sign in the border area of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul, indicates that the surrounding region is a drone no-fly zone, in this file photo taken Jan. 11, 2026. (Yonhap)
A mix-up over a U.S. spy drone flying near the inter-Korean border has raised questions about a potential communication gap between the allies after South Korean forces mistook the drone for an enemy threat and had almost prepared to shoot it down.
On Thursday, the unmanned flying vehicle was spotted in the buffer zone, known as the Civilian Control Line, south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) separating the two Koreas.
The Army’s 1st Corps, responsible for front-line defense, activated Durumi, an anti-air defense alert system issued in the event of an enemy drone incursion, and used surveillance equipment, including thermal observation devices (TOD) and radar, to identify the drone.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) later said it was a U.S. military drone belonging to its Marine Corps carrying out an operation during a combined exercise with the South Korean Marines near the border.
You can read more at the link.
