On Sunday, the ruling and opposition parties continued their verbal sparring over North Korea’s alleged drone incursion.
The People Power Party pressed the Lee Jae Myung administration to provide a clear factual assessment of North Korea’s claim. At the same time, the Democratic Party countered that such assertions undermine national security and called for an end to political posturing.
People Power Party spokesperson Choi Bo Yoon said during a morning briefing that while North Korea has warned South Korea to be prepared for consequences, President Lee Jae Myung has signaled openness to dialogue through references to Bojemaeng and Bojeong-eun. She said that North Korea has ignored those overtures and instead responded with threats and slander.
Choi added that North Korea has escalated tensions by publicly specifying dates, routes, footage, and drone types, prominently publishing the details in Rodong Sinmun. She said this reinforced Pyongyang’s hostile posture toward South Korea and appeared to be a calculated attempt to justify future provocations. Despite this, she argued that the government’s response has been limited to statements such as saying the incident was not a military operation and that authorities would determine whether it involved a civilian drone. She said the government has yet to deliver a clear security message on how it plans to respond to what she described as explicit threats from North Korea.
Choi further said that President Lee’s remark that a civilian drone infiltration would constitute a serious crime should have been phrased more cautiously. She noted that the military has stated it neither possesses nor operates such drones and that North Korea’s claims remain unverified and unilateral. She warned that repeatedly making assumptions based on unverified claims risks lending legitimacy to North Korea’s assertions.
She added that in national security matters, sending the wrong signals can be more dangerous than enemy provocations, arguing that emotional rhetoric and personality-driven diplomacy do not guarantee peace. As public concern grows, she said the government must clearly present the facts surrounding North Korea’s claims and specify its criteria and principles for responding to any potential future provocations.
In response, the Democratic Party described the People Power Party’s remarks as damaging to national security and issued a rebuttal.
Democratic Party floor spokesperson Kim Hyun Jung said in a morning statement that national security must transcend partisan politics. She said ignoring the military’s official position and treating non-existent military operations as fact for political purposes amounts to behavior that undermines national security.
Kim cited the Ministry of National Defense’s official briefing from the previous afternoon, which stated that the drone revealed by North Korea does not match any model in the South Korean military’s inventory and that no drone operations were conducted during the period in question. She added that higher-level command units capable of conducting drone operations toward North Korea also confirmed that no such activities took place.
She criticized the People Power Party for prematurely labeling the incident as a military drone operation based solely on North Korea’s claims, before any official government announcement. Kim said that by raising questions about whether the previous administration committed foreign exchange violations, the ruling party further escalated the issue. She argued that this both acknowledged President Yoon Suk Yeol’s confrontational stance toward North Korea, which risked triggering conflict, and demonstrated a preference for political advantage over national security.
Kim concluded by saying that the Lee administration remains firmly prepared and undeterred by North Korean provocations, while also taking every precaution to prevent unnecessary conflict and maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula.
