On January 10, North Korea alleged that a South Korean drone had violated its airspace. In response, South Korea denied any provocative intent and announced plans to investigate potential civilian involvement.
The South Korean Ministry of National Defense issued a statement addressing North Korea’s drone allegations, stating that the preliminary investigation indicates that the military neither possesses the drone in question nor operated any unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the specified timeframe.
The ministry further noted that it will conduct a thorough investigation in collaboration with relevant government agencies to explore the possibility of civilian drone operations.
The Defense Ministry emphasized that it has no intention to provoke or antagonize North Korea, and affirmed its commitment to ongoing practical measures aimed at reducing tensions and building trust between the two Koreas.
That same day, a North Korean People’s Army spokesperson claimed in a statement titled, South Korea Must Face Consequences for Repeated Drone Violations of Sovereignty, that a South Korean military drone had infiltrated their territory.
The spokesperson detailed that on January 4, the border surveillance unit detected and tracked an aerial target moving north over Hado-ri, Songhae-myeon, Ganghwa County, Incheon. After it tactically penetrated 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) into the airspace, it employed specialized electronic warfare assets to force it down, crash-landing 1,200 meters (about 3,937 feet) from Muksan-ri, Gaepung District, Kaesong.
Pyongyang asserted that the drone was on a reconnaissance mission and released purported footage captured by the aircraft.
North Korea also referenced a September incident where a drone allegedly launched from Jeokseong-myeon, Paju, Gyeonggi Province, entered airspace over Pyongsan County, North Hwanghae Province. They claimed that the downed drone, like the recent one, was a fixed-wing small UAV capable of six-hour flights below 500 meters (about 1,640 feet), equipped with a high-resolution optical camera for ground surveillance.
South Korean military officials stated that no drone operations or training exercises were conducted on the day specified by North Korea. The drone revealed by Pyongyang reportedly differs significantly in appearance and configuration from those deployed by South Korean forces to Pyongyang during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s administration in 2024.
In response, the Blue House convened a National Security Council (NSC) working group meeting, chaired by Kim Hyun-jong, First Deputy Director of the National Security Office, to verify North Korea’s claims and formulate an appropriate response.