South Korean President orders prompt probe into alleged drone incursions into N. Korea
President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday ordered a prompt investigation into alleged drone incursions into North Korea, warning that such acts would constitute "a grave crime" threatening peace on the Korean Peninsula and national security if confirmed, Yonhap reports.
North Korea claimed earlier in the day that South Korea had infringed on its sovereignty with drone incursions last September and again earlier this week, but Seoul's defense ministry rejected Pyongyang's accusations.
Addressing the possibility that the drones were operated by a private individual or group, Lee said if the allegation proves true, it would amount to "a serious crime that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and national security," calling on the military and police to conduct a swift and thorough probe, Cheong Wa Dae said.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the North's military shot down a drone that had flown north from Ganghwa County in Incheon, west of Seoul, forcing it to crash in the North's border city of Kaesong on Jan. 4. It claimed the drone was equipped with surveillance devices, citing a spokesperson for the North Korean military.
The KCNA also claimed that another drone that took off from the South's border city of Paju was downed over Kaesong on Sept. 27.
Pyongyang released photos of what it said was debris from the drones, accusing the South Korean military of being behind the incursions.
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back rejected the claims, saying the drones shown in the photos are not models used by the South Korean military and that the armed forces did not operate drones on the dates cited by the North.
The North's raising of the issue comes at a time when Lee has striven to resume stalled diplomacy with North Korea since taking office last June, but Pyongyang has rejected his peace overtures.
North Korea previously accused Seoul of sending a drone over Pyongyang in October 2024 under former conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Yoon was later accused by a special prosecution team of ordering the military to send drones to stoke tension between the two Koreas as a pretext for declaring martial law in December 2024.
Earlier, it was reported that South Korean defense minister had denied N. Korea's drone infiltration claims.
