▲ File photo of a drone (Yonhap)

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

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 told reporters.

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

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.

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