South Korean troops mistakenly shoot at passenger jet
Soldiers on Gyodong island, off South Korea's west coast, fired 99 rifle rounds at the Asiana flight, which was out of range and landed undamaged.
The incident took place early on Friday close to the tense border between the Koreas.
The airliner, which had 119 people on board, was descending at the time to Seoul's Incheon International Airport.
The plane had flown from the south-western Chinese city of Chengdu, an aviation controller told AFP news agency.
Two marine guards fired their K-2 rifles at the civilian flight, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
"The firing continued about 10 minutes but the plane was too far off the rifle's range and it did not receive any damage," Yonhap quoted an unnamed Marine Corps official as saying.
"When the plane appeared over Jumun island, soldiers mistook it as a North Korean military aircraft and fired."
The BBC's Lucy Williamson, in Seoul, says the West Sea - which contains the disputed maritime border between North and South Korea - has been especially tense since two attacks on South Korea last year.
Relations between the two nations have been frosty ever since, with North Korea recently vowing to break ties with the South in retaliation for what it called "psychological warfare" against it.
SkyNews:
South Korean Troops Fire At Passenger Jet
A passenger plane had a lucky escape after South Korean troops fired at it thinking it was a North Korean military jet.
Two marine corps soldiers spotted the plane - owned by a South Korean airline - flying close to the sea border with North Korea at 4am Friday morning.
The soldiers, both said to be 18, fired their rifles at the low-flying jet for 10 minutes but luckily the plane was out of their gun range.
The Asiana Airlines flight from China, carrying 119 passengers and crew, was making its descent to Incheon Airport in Seoul at the time.
Luckily the plane was flying out of range of the marine's machine guns
The soldiers believed the plane was flying outside the normal flight path but the airline said the plane never veered of course.
An Asiana Airlines official said: "We checked yesterday through the air force and the airport control centre to make sure there were no abnormalities such as being off course."
According to local reports, marine corps officers will now undergo thorough training on identifying civilian aircraft.
棒子