N. Korea should stop this new type of provocation
The military has tentatively concluded that two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) recently found near the border with North Korea came from the impoverished state. The conclusion raises concerns about South Korea's air defense and the North's new type of provocation.
A group of military officials and experts dissembled the drones to conduct an in-depth analysis and reached their conclusion on the grounds that the shape and size of the two UAVs were similar. It is believed that the North has developed the drones to enhance its aerial reconnaissance capabilities.
The drone that crashed on Baengnyeong Island was briefly spotted by radar Monday, when South and North Korea exchanged artillery fire across their maritime border in the West Sea, Yonhap News reported, quoting a military source. The drone took pictures of military facilities on Baengnyeong and other border islands, raising speculation that the North may have attempted to get a glimpse of our defense posture ahead of its live-fire drills.
The other drone carrying a digital camera crashed in the border city of Paju on March 24. Images found on the camera showed that the drone took aerial shots along the No. 1 national highway from Paju to Seoul, likely one of the North's main invasion routes in the event of war. It took photos of major landmarks in central Seoul, including the presidential office.
The discovery sparked fears that Pyongyang is using drones for spying on our key facilities or launching terrorist attacks in Seoul and other cities. Given this, it's no exaggeration to say that a number of North Korean unmanned vehicles have already penetrated into our airspace over the last few years.
A plausible scenario is that the North's military was able to hit barracks and K-9 self-propelled howitzers accurately on Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, after it figured out where our military facilities were in advance through the use of drones.
This speculation is not without reason, considering that the isolationist regime in Pyongyang has been making strenuous efforts to develop UAVs since the 1990s by introducing blueprints and prototypes for drones from China and other countries. A recent Pentagon report to the U.S. Congress confirmed that North Korea has developed and deployed drones capable of attacking ground targets.
The latest finding is proof that there are big holes in our air defenses against possible attacks using drones equipped with bombs or chemical and biological weapons. In the worst case, we would not be able to verify who flew the drones even after being attacked.
The problem is that it's quite difficult to detect drones because they could easily avoid military radar by flying at low altitudes. At the moment, only visual surveillance is possible, but its limitations are clear.
What's needed is to find out North Korea's implication in the crashed drones clearly and warn the North to stop sending them after defining it as another provocation. Our military, for its part, needs to map out all possible defense measures, including the installation of low-altitude surveillance radar.
The military has tentatively concluded that two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) recently found near the border with North Korea came from the impoverished state. The conclusion raises concerns about South Korea's air defense and the North's new type of provocation.
A group of military officials and experts dissembled the drones to conduct an in-depth analysis and reached their conclusion on the grounds that the shape and size of the two UAVs were similar. It is believed that the North has developed the drones to enhance its aerial reconnaissance capabilities.
The drone that crashed on Baengnyeong Island was briefly spotted by radar Monday, when South and North Korea exchanged artillery fire across their maritime border in the West Sea, Yonhap News reported, quoting a military source. The drone took pictures of military facilities on Baengnyeong and other border islands, raising speculation that the North may have attempted to get a glimpse of our defense posture ahead of its live-fire drills.
The other drone carrying a digital camera crashed in the border city of Paju on March 24. Images found on the camera showed that the drone took aerial shots along the No. 1 national highway from Paju to Seoul, likely one of the North's main invasion routes in the event of war. It took photos of major landmarks in central Seoul, including the presidential office.
The discovery sparked fears that Pyongyang is using drones for spying on our key facilities or launching terrorist attacks in Seoul and other cities. Given this, it's no exaggeration to say that a number of North Korean unmanned vehicles have already penetrated into our airspace over the last few years.
A plausible scenario is that the North's military was able to hit barracks and K-9 self-propelled howitzers accurately on Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, after it figured out where our military facilities were in advance through the use of drones.
This speculation is not without reason, considering that the isolationist regime in Pyongyang has been making strenuous efforts to develop UAVs since the 1990s by introducing blueprints and prototypes for drones from China and other countries. A recent Pentagon report to the U.S. Congress confirmed that North Korea has developed and deployed drones capable of attacking ground targets.
The latest finding is proof that there are big holes in our air defenses against possible attacks using drones equipped with bombs or chemical and biological weapons. In the worst case, we would not be able to verify who flew the drones even after being attacked.
The problem is that it's quite difficult to detect drones because they could easily avoid military radar by flying at low altitudes. At the moment, only visual surveillance is possible, but its limitations are clear.
What's needed is to find out North Korea's implication in the crashed drones clearly and warn the North to stop sending them after defining it as another provocation. Our military, for its part, needs to map out all possible defense measures, including the installation of low-altitude surveillance radar.
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