South Korean civilians sent drones to North 4 times after Lee became president, harming ties: Seoul

SEOUL – South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said on Feb 18 that three civilians had sent drones to North Korea on four occasions since President Lee Jae Myung took office in 2025, harming inter-Korea ties.

The trio flew the aircraft between September 2025 and January 2026, Mr Chung said, citing an ongoing investigation by police and the military.

in line with claims made by Pyongyang, he said.

On two other attempts, the drones returned to Paju, a border settlement in South Korea, after flying over Kaesong, a city in North Korea, Mr Chung said.

The South Korean authorities were investigating the three civilians on suspicion of violating the aviation safety act and breaching criminal law by benefiting the enemy, he said.

Some officials at South Korea’s military intelligence agency and the National Intelligence Service were also under investigation for alleged involvement with the trio, he said.

“We express official regret to the North,” Mr Chung said, adding that the government was taking the drone incursion incidents very seriously.

North Korea has reacted angrily, saying in January that drones from South Korea entered its airspace after another intrusion in September.

Ms Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, urged Seoul to investigate the incident, warning that provocations could result in “terrible situations”.

Mr Chung also expressed regret over South Korea sending 18 drones to North Korea under the direction of ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol.

“It was an extremely dangerous incident aimed to induce an attack against South Korea by sending 18 drones on 11 occasions to sensitive areas in North Korea, including the airspace over the Workers’ Party office,” he said.

South Korean prosecutors have indicted Yoon, who was ousted in April 2025, on charges that include aiding an enemy state.

They accused him and his military commanders of ordering a covert drone operation into the North to raise tensions and justify his martial law decree.

Yoon denies wrongdoing.

South Korea’s government plans to strengthen penalties for sending drones to the North, Mr Chung said, including up to a one-year jail term or a 10 million won (S$8,750) fine.

A clause will also be added to South Korea’s inter-Korea relations development act to block actions that heighten tensions on the peninsula, he said.

Mr Chung said several ministers met during the holidays to discuss restoring the so-called Sept 19 agreement, a military pact signed with North Korea to suspend some military activity along the border.

The pact, signed in 2018, was scrapped in 2024 when Yoon as president declared a complete suspension of the agreement in response to North Korea’s move to send hundreds of rubbish-stuffed balloons across the border.

South Korea’s defence ministry said in a statement after Mr Chung’s briefing that it is reviewing a partial revival of the agreement, including imposing a no-fly zone, through consultations with the United States. REUTERS