A review by the military over South Korea's response to a North Korean drone incursion last month has found that the frontline military unit did not assess the incident as an "emergency situation."

According to the interim findings by the Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) on Thursday, the Army's First Corps, which initially detected the drone as it crossed the Military Demarcation Line(MDL), classified it as subject of a "spot report."

This reportedly delayed the operation of systems to notify the situation within the military, as the drone made its way into Seoul's airspace. The Capital Defense Command unilaterally launched air defense operations about an hour later.

Despite the findings, an official from the JCS explained the challenges in assessing such situations, saying that over two-thousand bogeys are detected by radar in any given day, including those of commercial flights, birds or balloons, and when further confirmation is required a thermal observation device(TOD) needs to be used.

The official added that even if the Army's First Corps had issued an internal notification, there was also no direct communication line with the Capital Defense Command.

Another military official said that all those involved have been questioned and that punitive actions are being considered.