Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
South Korean drones sent to North was 'exercise of self-defense': military
South Korea's military conducts an anti-drone exercise in Paju, a city near the inter-Korean border, Jan. 5. Newsis
By Jung Min-ho
Communication failure under scrutiny after bungled response
By Jung Min-ho
The military refuted the opposition party's claim on Monday that South Korean drones sent to North Korea were a violation of the inter-Korean truce, claiming that the South exercised its right of self-defense.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) defended President Yoon Suk Yeol's eye-for-an-eye response to five North Korean drones that crossed over the inter-Korean border, Dec. 26, in a clear violation of a 2018 military pact signed between the two sides.
“The border incursion by the North Korean drones was a provocative act that apparently violated the Korean Armistice Agreement, the (1991) Inter-Korean Basic Agreement and the (2018) Sept. 19 military agreement,” Lee Sung-jun, a spokesman for the JCS, told reporters. “It was a proportional response and an exercise of the right to self-defense … Article 51 (of Chapter VII) of the United Nations Charter guarantees the right to engage in self-defense, which will be investigated by the United Nations Command (UNC).”
The remarks came a day after the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) criticized Yoon for the retaliatory response it claimed was a violation of the military pact, under which the two sides agreed to cease hostile activities and take steps to build military trust.
Rep. Park Sung-joon, its spokesman, said both sides are mutually at fault now due to the decision, and share responsibility for what happened that day.
After being briefed on the drone invasion, the president reprimanded the military's bungled response and ordered the top brass to send drones to the North. A week later, he also said he will consider suspending the military pact if Pyongyang violates the border again.
Lee gave more details on how the military failed, admitting that there was a communication problem. An inspection is under way to determine what went wrong. A separate investigation by the UNC is also expected to determine whether Seoul's action is justifiable.
“Our response was inadequate in terms of information-sharing about the situation between the First Army Corps and the Capital Defense Command (CDC) … The responsibility of Seoul's air defense, including the P-73 zone, falls on CDC. Therefore, all relevant units are targets of the inspection,” he said.
The targets include the Presidential Security Service, an organization in charge of the safety of the president, he added.
According to the military, its radar detected the drones violating the inter-Korean border at 10:19 a.m. on Dec. 26, which was reported to the First Army Corps about 6 minutes later. At around 10:50 a.m., the CDC detected one of the five drones when it flew into Seoul near the P-73 no-fly zone, which covers a 3.7-kilometer radius zone above the presidential compound. Unaware of the situation, the CDC assessed the situation before contacting the JCS at 11:27 a.m. A state of emergency was declared around noon to alert anti-North Korea air defenses.
Why the emergency declaration was delayed and who was responsible for it are still under scrutiny, Lee said.
The opposition party said the military's explanation has been insufficient, and called on the ruling People Power Party (PPP) to hold an open hearing on the case to reveal the full facts.
Rep. Joo Ho-young, the PPP's floor leader, rejected the request, saying disclosing too much detail could endanger national security.