A sign in both Korean and English warns people that they are approaching the Demilitarized Zone, April 2, 2025. (Brendan Trembath/U.N. Command)
South Korea has relieved the army commander responsible for the western section of the Demilitarized Zone following investigations into two recent security lapses, including a policy that left frontline weapons unloaded and a near shootdown of a U.S. Marine Corps drone.
Lt. Gen. Han Ki-sung, commander of 1st Corps, was removed from his post in connection with the “inspection and investigation of recent issues,” a Ministry of National Defense spokesman said by text message Monday.
The ministry did not elaborate on the reasons for Han’s dismissal. However, it announced last week that it would carry out an on-site inspection of 1st Corps after media reports revealed that Han had ordered soldiers guarding the border to keep K6 heavy machine guns unloaded while live ammunition was stored nearby.
The policy also applied to K4 automatic grenade launchers, weapons designed to engage enemy troops and light armored vehicles, the Chosun Ilbo reported Thursday.
Multiple accidental firings have occurred near the DMZ in recent years, including on April 23, 2025, when a South Korean soldier fired a single round from a K6 machine gun toward North Korea.
South Korean military units deployed to the border are expected to keep their weapons loaded with live ammunition, a Defense Ministry spokesman said by text message Thursday.
Han revised the unit’s guard procedures earlier this year without notifying the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which oversees border operations, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday.
The ministry’s review came days after South Korean forces nearly shot down a Marine Corps drone operating near the DMZ during a joint training exercise.
Investigators determined that U.S. forces had notified a 1st Corps soldier by text message the day before the flight, providing the drone’s route and planned altitude, the Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday.
Rather than forwarding the information through his chain of command, the soldier replied that no flight restrictions were in place, the newspaper reported.
South Korean troops later detected the drone, mistook it for a potential North Korean aircraft and prepared to engage it before determining its flight profile differed from that of known North Korean drones, the report said.
The incident prompted the military to issue an emergency warning advising civilians near the border to seek shelter.
The flight also required additional approval because it operated at high altitude, the newspaper reported.
Lt. Gen. Kang Kwan-bum, head of the army’s Training and Doctrine Command, will serve as 1st Corps’ acting commander, the ministry said Monday.