President Lee Jae Myung, left, speaks throughout an financial technique assembly at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Friday. Joint Press Corps
President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday ordered a immediate investigation into alleged drone incursions into North Korea, warning that such acts would represent “a grave crime” threatening peace on the Korean Peninsula and nationwide safety if confirmed.
North Korea claimed earlier within the day that South Korea had infringed on its sovereignty with drone incursions final September and once more earlier this week, however Seoul’s protection ministry rejected Pyongyang’s accusations.
Addressing the chance that the drones have been operated by a non-public particular person or group, Lee stated if the allegation proves true, it might quantity to “a critical crime that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and nationwide safety,” calling on the army and police to conduct a swift and thorough probe, Cheong Wa Dae stated.
The Korean Central Information Company (KCNA) stated the North’s army shot down a drone that had flown north from Ganghwa County in Incheon, west of Seoul, forcing it to crash within the North’s border metropolis of Kaesong on Jan. 4. It claimed the drone was outfitted with surveillance gadgets, citing a spokesperson for the North Korean army.
The KCNA additionally claimed that one other drone that took off from the South’s border metropolis of Paju was downed over Kaesong on Sept. 27.
Pyongyang launched pictures of what it stated was particles from the drones, accusing the South Korean army of being behind the incursions.
Protection Minister Ahn Gyu-back rejected the claims, saying the drones proven within the pictures will not be fashions utilized by the South Korean army and that the armed forces didn’t function drones on the dates cited by the North.
The North’s elevating of the problem comes at a time when Lee has striven to renew stalled diplomacy with North Korea since taking workplace final June, however Pyongyang has rejected his peace overtures.
North Korea beforehand accused Seoul of sending a drone over Pyongyang in October 2024 underneath former conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Yoon was later accused by a particular prosecution crew of ordering the army to ship drones to stoke stress between the 2 Koreas as a pretext for declaring martial legislation in December 2024.
