Allegation of ‘spreading leaflets’
Army “I never sent it”
North Korea said on the 11th, “Continuing from the 3rd and 9th, on the 10th, South Korea committed the heinous atrocity of invading the skies of the central district of Pyongyang City with an unmanned aerial vehicle in the middle of the night and distributing numerous anti-DPRK political plot propaganda leaflets. “I did it,” he claimed. Our military said, “We have never sent a drone to North Korea,” and “we cannot confirm the truth of North Korea’s claims.” Military tensions between North and South Korea are intensifying as there are observations both inside and outside the military that North Korea, which recently officially declared the severance of inter-Korean relations, may be trying to gain a justification for launching military provocations against South Korea.
In an ‘important statement’ released through the Korean Central News Agency this evening, North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that South Korea had flown drones to Pyongyang three times and said, “The Ministry of National Defense, the General Staff, and all levels of the military are prepared to respond to different cases of developing situations.” “We have started,” he threatened. He went on to say, “This is a serious political and military provocation that requires retaliation,” and added, “With all offensive forces on readiness, we give one last stern warning to the Republic of Korea as an ultimatum.” On this day, North Korea said it had filmed a drone that appeared in the sky above the Workers’ Party headquarters building, and revealed the image of the drone, which appears to have been filmed with a thermal imaging device (TOD), an object it claimed was a bundle of leaflets, and an image of leaflets being released into the air.
Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun refuted questions from lawmakers regarding North Korea’s claim that we sent unmanned aerial vehicles during the National Assembly audit on this day, saying, “We have never done such a thing.” However, when asked for specific information, he said, “We cannot confirm this because there are various circumstances,” and raised the possibility that it was a North Korean act, saying, “It could be an internal act of North Korea.” The Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a press announcement that night, “We strongly urge North Korea to exercise self-respect and not to act rashly. “If the safety of our people is threatened in any way, our military will retaliate resolutely and severely,” he warned.
Some in the military also speculated that it could be a drone flown to North Korea by a Korean civilian organization. A military official also said in a phone call with the Dong-A Ilbo, “The possibility that it was sent by a private organization cannot be ruled out.” An official from a private organization said, “If you modify a drone that costs less than 2 million won and fly it, you will be able to take pictures of Pyongyang.”
Reporter Shin Jin-woo [email protected]
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