Three drones were sent from N. Korea: ministry
The defense ministry Thursday announced the three drones found in March and April were all sent from North Korea. Officials brief the result of interim probe in the unmanned drones at the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in Daejeon, April 11. / Yonhap
Three small drones found near the inter-Korean border in March and April were all sent from North Korea, based on an analysis of geographical data retrieved from the spy aircraft, the defense ministry announced Thursday.
One unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was discovered in Paju, north of Seoul, on March 24, while another was found on a western border island a week later. The third drone was found in a mountain near the east coast on April 6.
The ministry said a team of South Korean and American experts had confirmed the origin of the drones after restoring the coordinates of the geographical positioning system (GPS) stored in their system.
The announcement came about a month after an interim investigation pointed the finger at Pyongyang for sending the small unmanned aerial vehicles to South Korea based on circumstantial evidence.
"All three UAVs originated from North Korea and were programmed to return to the same regions," Kim Jong-seong, the director of the UAV development program at the state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD), said in a briefing at the defense ministry.
The drones, equipped with a camera and a parachute, departed from North Korea and flew southward to prearranged coordinates to take photos of key facilities and military installations along their routes. Although the devices were programmed to return to their departure point, they failed to complete their mission. One crashed due to an engine problem, while the other two failed due to fuel shortage, Kim said.
The Paju UAV departed from a region five kilometers northwest of the North Korean border city of Kaesong.
The second drone found on March 31 on the northwestern border island of Baengnyeong was sent from 27 km southeast of Haeju, South Hwanghae Province. Tensions were high on that day as North Korea conducted a live-fire drill near the tensely guarded maritime border.
The third drone found on April 6 near Samcheok in South Korea's east coast, 17 km east of Pyeonggang in North Korea's Gangwon Province. It is located just north of the heavily fortified DMZ.
"All three UAVs were ordered to fly over South Korea's military facilities according to the prearranged data," Kim said. "Photos of UAVs crashed on Baengnyeong Island and in Paju revealed their flight routes, which match to the GPS data."
Paju drone took photos of key installations in Seoul metropolitan area, including the presidential office in the capital city, while Baengnyeong Island drone took photos of troops on two western border islands.
North Korea is believed to have made the drones based on Chinese UAVs it had acquired via Hong Kong.
The South Korean military has asked the Chinese Embassy to figure out the link between the Chinese UAV manufacturer with North Korea, Moon Sang-kyun, a senior ministry official said.
Seoul condemned Pyongyang for border incursions by the spy aircraft.
"North Korea's drone incursions are violation of the Armistice Agreement and South-North Non-Aggression Agreement, which is an apparent military provocation," defense ministry spokesman Kim Mini-seok said in a briefing. "The South Korean military will sternly respond to North Korea's provocation and deliver the warning through the United Nations Command (UNC) based on the Armistice Agreement."
The two Koreas are technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a ceasefire, without signing a peace treaty. The Armistice Agreement has been overseen by the UNC in the last 60 years.
In light of the border incursions by North Korea's spy aircraft, the South Korean military vowed to step up air security by acquiring low-altitude surveillance radars and other strike weapons.
South Korea is pushing to buy about 10 low-altitude radars from Israel to better detect small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and thereby counter threats posed by North Korean drones.
"The military is currently reviewing Israeli equipment to establish the detection and strike system that fits South Korean terrain and military operation," spokesman Kim said. "We will first deploy detection and strike system in major areas, and complement the existing system in other areas."
Rudimentary drones have existed for almost as long as aircraft themselves for reconnaissance and surveillance missions have, but the drone incursions have raised concerns over more sophisticated, armed UAVs that can launch attacks on military assets and major facilities.
However, the South Korean military remained skeptical of the effectiveness of the UAVs, saying the drones could carry about 3-4 kilograms of ammunition, a payload that some say is too little to cause substantial damage compared with other conventional weapons.
The North is estimated to have about 300 spy drones, less than 10 attack UAVs and about 10 Russian-made Shmel UAVs, while currently developing a multipurpose UAV, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)