Web Desk: A senior North Korean official on Sunday urged South Korea to provide a detailed explanation for a drone that allegedly crossed into the North’s airspace, adding a new point of tension to already strained relations between the rivals.
Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, made the demand in a statement issued Saturday and carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. He said a drone entered Democratic People’s Republic of Korea airspace from the Republic of Korea earlier this month.
Kim welcomed a public pledge by South Korea’s Defense Ministry that it would not provoke or irritate the North, calling the stance a “wise choice.” However, he said such assurances did not remove the need for a full explanation of the alleged drone incursion.
“A detailed explanation should be made about the actual case of a drone that crossed the southern border of our Republic from the ROK,” Kim was quoted as saying.
Kim also criticized attempts in South Korea to downplay the incident as a civilian matter. he argued that the key issue was not whether the drone was operated by military or civilian actors but the responsibility of South Korean authorities for national security.
he said video data collected by the drone included sensitive locations, such as a uranium mine and its settling pond, the former Kaesong Industrial Zone and North Korean border guard posts.
“Regardless of who the perpetrator is or whether the act was carried out by any civilian organization or individual, the ROK authorities responsible for national security can never evade their responsibility,” Kim said, according to KCNA.
In response, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ordered a thorough investigation, directing military and police task forces to verify the details of the alleged incursion.
At the same time, South Korea’s Defense Ministry denied any role in the incident. The ministry said no military drones were operating on the dates cited by the North and that the drone described does not correspond to any models used by South Korea’s armed forces.
The dispute adds to ongoing frictions on the Korean Peninsula, with Pyongyang demanding accountability and Seoul maintaining that its military was not involved.
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