North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces an important statement on the evening of the 11th
Photos captured by a drone and leaflets were also released to the North Korean media.
Park Sang-hak, leader of the Free North Korea Movement, “We won’t let you go either.”
On the 11th, in response to North Korea’s claim that South Korea sent an unmanned aerial vehicle to Pyongyang, our military stated its position, saying, “The military has not sent any unmanned aerial vehicles to North Korea.”
An official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on this day, “Our military has not sent any drones to North Korea.”
North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an important statement released through the Korean Central News Agency this evening, “South Korea, following the late-night hours of October 3 and 9, also invaded the skies of Pyongyang City’s Central District with an unmanned aerial vehicle, carrying out numerous anti-DPRK political plots. “They committed a heinous atrocity by distributing propaganda leaflets (anti-North Korea leaflets),” he said.
He continued, “When the Republic of Korea again commits a provocative act of invading the territorial space of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with an unmanned aerial vehicle, there will be no warning like this again and it will immediately take action.” “If you carry out a provocation, you will face a terrible situation,” he threatened.
Along with an important statement, North Korea released a photo showing a drone and a leaflet package that it claimed was captured in North Korean skies. However, based on the photos released by North Korea, it is not clear whether it is a drone or not.
If North Korea’s claims are true, there is a possibility that the drone was sent by a private organization, not our military. North Korean defector groups, such as the Free North Korea Movement Coalition, are sending anti-North Korea leaflets and portable storage devices (USBs) containing K-pop and dramas on balloons to the North.
In the past, Gyeonggi Province and Paju City blocked the launch of balloons to North Korea in accordance with the Anti-North Korea Flyer Ban Act. However, in September of last year, the Constitutional Court ruled that the anti-North Korea leaflet ban was unconstitutional, and North Korean defector groups have continued to scatter balloons.
Park Sang-hak, head of the Free North Korea Movement, said, “We did send a drone to North Korea as a test four to five years ago,” but added, “This time, we did not send a drone at the time North Korea claimed.”
[서울=뉴시스]