U.S. drone scare exposes South Korea command gaps

A U.S. training drone was nearly treated as a hostile aircraft after its flight plan failed to reach S. Korean commands responsible for approving.

An apparent communication breakdown between US and South Korean militaries resulted in South Korean troops training their weapons on an American drone launched during a joint exercise and an evacuation alert being triggered near the inter-Korean border. The incident underscored the need for a comprehensive review of th

The episode triggered a security scare in the heavily fortified border region, according to media reports, with military units issuing ​evacuation notices to nearby residents.

South Korea ordered residents near the heavily-armed border with North Korea to evacuate after the military mistook a US drone participating in a joint exercise as an unidentified aircraft and prepared to shoot it down.