North Korea says it recovered crashed South Korean military drone, threatens war

Any more incursions would be regarded as a ‘declaration of war and an immediate retaliatory attack will be launched’, Pyongyang said

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The remains of a crashed drone are seen in a photo released by North Korean state media on Saturday. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

Published: 7:12am, 19 Oct 2024Updated: 4:52pm, 19 Oct 2024

North Korea said on Saturday it found the remains of a South Korean drone during a search in its capital, Pyongyang, claiming the drone proved the South’s military was behind the alleged drone infiltrations over the city’s skies earlier in the month.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency released photos showing a seemingly damaged aircraft with wide, V-shaped wings and winglets. It said a joint investigation by North Korea’s military and state security agencies concluded that the aircraft, which it said was found on October 13, was the same type of drone that appeared in a South Korean military parade earlier in October.

North Korea accused South Korea of flying drones over the night skies of Pyongyang three different times this month to drop anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets. It threatened to respond with force if such flights occur again.

The aircraft allegedly found in Pyongyang was likely one of the drones that were used to drop leaflets, North Korea’s Defence Ministry said, but further examinations were needed to verify that.

A photo of what the North Korean government says is a crashed South Korean drone found in Pyongyang. Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

Should South Korea deny that the aircraft was used to drop leaflets, that would only confess to a separate infiltration of North Korea’s airspace by the South’s military, the ministry said. If North Korea confirms another violation of its territorial ground, airspace and waters by the South’s military, that will be regarded as a “declaration of war and an immediate retaliatory attack will be launched”, the ministry added.

“North Korea’s one-sided claims are not worth verifying, nor do they merit a response,” South Korea’s defence ministry said in a statement, responding to North Korea’s report about the alleged drone discovery.