The ‘drone’ was found tied to a tree in the Hyongjesan district, northeast of Pyongyang, on October 13, according to a statement from North Korea‘s Ministry of National Defense, published by the state news agency KCNA.
After an investigation, “it has been scientifically proven that the ‘drone’ originated in the Republic of Korea”, South Korea‘s official name, the government department said in the statement.
In addition, the note continued, it is a long-range reconnaissance model used by the Drone Operations Command of the South Korean military and recently displayed in Seoul and at an air base during March Day parades on October 1 .
The photos released by KCNA show a ‘drone’ “very similar” to a model presented in these parades, called S-Bat or SD-Bat and manufactured by Sunwoo Engineering, wrote the Spanish news agency EFE.
The model was selected by South Korea’s Defense Development Agency (ADD) as part of a recent program to acquire a hundred small-sized, low-cost drones – the model is 287 centimeters wide and 173 centimeters long.
KCNA said that after an investigation, the drone could have been used for the past five to seven days before the date it was found.
“Taking into account the shape of the ‘drone’, the alleged period of flight, the release container with leaflets attached to the bottom of the fuselage, etc., it is quite likely that the ‘drone’ was the one spread leaflets over the center of Pyongyang, although no conclusion has been reached yet”, he says.
North Korea, on October 11, said it had detected ‘drones’ with propaganda leaflets flying over the North Korean capital and accused the neighboring country’s military of being responsible for the operation.
The South Korean military denied it, albeit ambiguously, and cited the possibility that the unmanned aerial vehicles were under the care of activists who regularly send balloons with this type of propaganda from the South to the North.
“If the participation of the ‘drone’ in the recent episode of flyers is denied, this will be proof of another deliberate violation of our country’s airspace by the military means of the Republic of Korea,” the North’s Ministry of National Defense said. Korean, which considers “objective evidence and scientific analysis” as “clear proof” that Seoul is responsible for the operation.
The text recalls that after Pyongyang detected the ‘drones’, border artillery units were ordered to open fire if new devices were seen coming from the neighboring country.
The episode takes place shortly after North Korea amended the Constitution to declare the South a “hostile state”, which reflects a radical change in Pyongyang’s diplomatic strategy, currently marked by the refusal to resume dialogue with Seoul or Washington and a strong closeness to Moscow .