Ministry of National Defense Relieves Army I Corps Commander of Duty

Controversies Over Unloaded Live Ammunition on the Front Line
and the Misidentification of a US Military Drone

The Ministry of National Defense announced on the 3rd that Lieutenant General Han Ki-sung, commander of the Army I Corps, has been suspended from his duties. This personnel measure is related to recent controversies involving the lack of live ammunition at the front line and the mix-up involving a U.S. military drone.

In a notice distributed to the press the same day, the Ministry of National Defense stated, "In connection with the inspection and investigation of recent matters related to I Corps, the current corps commander has been suspended from his duties as of today," and added, "During this period, the Army Training & Doctrine Command commander is scheduled to serve as acting commander of I Corps."

The Army I Corps, responsible for the western front, has recently faced controversy after it was revealed that from the first half of this year, its guidelines for guard operations at General Outpost (GOP) and Guard Post (GP) on the front lines had been changed to prohibit loading live rounds in crew-served weapons such as the K6 heavy machine gun and K4 automatic grenade launcher. Although it is the principle in front-line units of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces to load live ammunition into firearms, I Corps changed these operational guidelines at the discretion of the corps commander. After these facts came to light, the Army Ground Operations Command, which is the higher level command, is conducting a comprehensive investigation into the guard operations units of the frontline corps.

▲A sergeant who had completed guard duty at the GOP (General Outpost) on the front line of the eastern front opened fire on fellow soldiers, resulting in a tragedy where five people died.

Additionally, on July 30th, it was also I Corps that nearly shot down a U.S. Marine Corps drone flying near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Paju as part of a combined training exercise, having mistaken it for a threatening entity such as a North Korean drone. The U.S. military had notified an I Corps staff member of the drone’s flight plan just before the exercise, but this information was not reported to the higher-level commands, including Army Ground Operations Command or Air Force Operations Command.

As a result, the Republic of Korea Armed Forces mistook the U.S. drone for an "unidentified flying object," issued the 'Duru-mi' air defense posture to prepare against enemy drones, and prepared to intercept it. Fortunately, no actual interception took place, and after the drone landed, it was identified as a U.S. military drone.

Han Ki-sung, commander of I Corps, is a graduate of the 33rd ROTC class. He was promoted to lieutenant general in November last year and appointed as I Corps commander. He drew attention as the first non-Korea Military Academy graduate to serve as I Corps commander, considered a key position within the military.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.