A North Korean drone entered the northern end of a no-fly zone surrounding South Korea’s presidential office in Seoul when it intruded into the South’s airspace last week, the South Korean military said yesterday.
The drone was among five North Korean craft that crossed into the South on Monday last week, prompting South Korea’s military to scramble fighter jets and attack helicopters.
The military was unable to bring down the drones, which flew over the South for hours.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff had denied that one of the drones intruded into a no-fly zone near the presidential office, but yesterday reversed its stance and confirmed that the craft had entered the northern end of the area.
A Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson said that there was a change in its analysis after an inspection of the military’s readiness posture over the latest intrusion.
The military said that the North’s uncrewed aircraft did not fly directly over the Yongsan area, where the office of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is.
Yoon has warned he would consider suspending a 2018 inter-Korean military pact if the North breaches its airspace again.
“We are concerned about the DPRK’s apparent disregard of the 2018 comprehensive military agreement,” US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said at a regular briefing in Washington, referring to North Korea by the acronym of its formal name.
The US calls on North Korea “to end its irresponsible and escalatory behavior,” Price said, adding that the US would defer to Seoul with regard to a possible aggregation of the military deal.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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