Photo : YONHAP News
Anchor: North Korea has reiterated its accusation that the South Korean military flew a drone over Pyongyang earlier this month, saying it has analyzed the flight data for the unmanned plane. While the North says the drone took off from South Korea’s Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, South Korea’s military says the claims are unworthy of a response.
Our Kim Bum-soo has the latest.
Report: North Korea’s defense ministry has released the final results of its investigation into an alleged incursion by a drone the North says scattered anti-North Korea leaflets over the capital city, Pyongyang, earlier this month.
According to the North’s Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) on Monday, the North analyzed the drone’s flight controller and tracked its purported flight path.
Citing a defense ministry spokesman, the state-run media outlet said the unmanned aircraft took off from Baengnyeong Island, near the maritime border in the Yellow Sea, at 11:25 p.m. on October 8.
It said the drone then crossed the inter-Korean border and flew over the western coastal areas before reaching the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, at around 1:30 a.m. the following day.
The drone scattered propaganda leaflets over the North’s foreign and defense ministries as well as a subway station in Pyongyang, according to the North Korean investigation.
To support its claim that the drone belongs to the South Korean military, the North said it found over 200 flight records proving it traveled through South Korean territory until October 8.
South Korea’s military has previously refused to confirm whether the North’s claims are true.
And during a press briefing Monday, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-joon said the North’s claims did not merit a response.
As Seoul continues to stay mum on the drone issue, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued a separate statement on Monday, saying she’d like to see “how the dirty curs in Seoul bark” if a drone appears over the South Korean capital and scatters leaflets criticizing President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.