(ATTN: ADDS JCS official's comments, other details in paras 4-7)

SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- An unmanned vehicle spotted Thursday in an inter-Korean border region was identified as a U.S. military drone, a South Korean military official said.

The flying vehicle was detected south of a general outpost in northern Gyeonggi Province and operation measures were carried out in line with standard protocol, an official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told reporters.

"Upon further verification, the unmanned vehicle was identified as a U.S. military drone participating in a training exercise," he said.

Earlier in the day, an alert was issued over Cheorwon, about 70 kilometers north of Seoul, near the buffer zone along the inter-Korean border, advising residents in the area to take shelter as the drone flight was detected.

The JCS official declined to give further details, such as whether the drone flew over the no-fly zone under the now-suspended 2018 inter-Korean military pact with North Korea.

The no-fly zone was established under the administration of former liberal President Moon Jae-in to prevent unintended military clashes with Pyongyang along the tensely fortified border.

It prohibits the operation of planes and drones within 15 km of the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas in eastern areas and 10 km in western regions. But the pact was suspended amid soured inter-Korean ties.

The military official said the military is in the process of gathering more information about the U.S. drone flight.

elly@yna.co.kr

(END)

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