STORY: North Korea’s defense ministry has blamed South Korea’s military for sending drones over its territory.
That’s according to state media agency KCNA.
It says officials view the flights as political acts, and a violation of the country’s sovereignty.
North Korean state broadcaster KRT said further such intrusions would draw a strong response:
“If infringement upon the sovereignty of our country reoccurs, the source of all misfortune and provocations will disappear forever through merciless offensive actions.”
The North said South Korean drones flew over Pyongyang at least three times this month to drop leaflets.
State media has also released photos of what it called a crashed South Korean military drone.
Authorities said they had uncovered over 230 flight plans and logs, including one to spread ‘political motivational rubbish.’
One record from early October purportedly showed a drone took off from South Korea at night, and then dropped leaflets over the foreign and defense ministry buildings in Pyongyang a few hours later.
Responding Monday, the South Korean military dismissed the North’s claims.
“There is no value to confirm North Korea’s unilateral claims, nor is there any worth in responding to the claims as well. Over the past 10 years, North Korea has penetrated our airspace more than 12 times with drones, threatening our own safety. Instead of reflecting on this kind of behaviour, North Korea is acting in a shameless manner and making unreasonable claims, when they are the ones who are doing wrong.”
Tensions between the Koreas have risen since the North began sending balloons carrying trash into the South in late May, prompting the South to restart loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts.
Simultaneously, Seoul and Washington say North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for possible use in Ukraine, which could escalate the conflict there.
Pyongyang said on Friday that any move to send its troops to support Russia would be in accordance with international law.