North Korea on Saturday accused South Korea of sending another spy drone into its airspace this month, an allegation that Seoul has denied.
According to a statement from a North Korean military spokesperson carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the drone was tracked moving northward from the South Korean border county of Ganghwa in early January, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The military said it shot down the drone near the North Korean city of Kaesong.
The spokesperson claimed the drone was equipped with surveillance equipment and that analysis of the wreckage showed it had stored footage of what were described as “important targets,” including border areas inside North Korea.
Photos of the alleged drone released by KCNA showed the wreckage of a winged craft lying on the ground next to a collection of grey and blue components it said included cameras.
South Korea said it had no record of the flight, and Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the drone in the photos was “not a model operated by our military”.
The office of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said a national security meeting would be held on Saturday to discuss the matter.
Located northwest of Seoul, Ganghwa County is one of the closest South Korean territories to North Korea.
KCNA also released aerial images of Kaesong that it said were taken by the drone.
They were “clear evidence” that the aircraft had “intruded into (our) airspace for the purpose of surveillance and reconnaissance”, Pyongyang’s military spokesperson said.
They added that the incursion was similar to one in September when the South flew drones near its border city of Paju.
Seoul would be forced to “pay a dear price for their unpardonable hysteria” if such flights continued, the spokesperson said.
South Korea is already investigating alleged drone flights over the North in late 2024 ordered by then-President Yoon Suk Yeol. Seoul’s military has not confirmed those flights.
Prosecutors have indicted Yoon on charges that he acted illegally in ordering them, hoping to provoke a response from Pyongyang and use it as a pretext for his short-lived bid to impose martial law.