South Korea Admits North Korean Drone Penetrated No-Fly Zone Around President’s Office

The scandal brewing in South Korea over last month’s invasion by North Korean drones took another turn on Thursday, as the South Korean military admitted one of the five invading drones managed to penetrate the no-fly zone around President Yoon Suk-yeol’s office in Seoul.

“It briefly flew into the northern edge of the zone, but it did not come close to key security facilities,” an unnamed South Korean military official told Yonhap News on Thursday.

Yonhap said another military official confirmed to reporters on background that the North Korean drone which approached Seoul on December 26 penetrated the “northern tip” of security zone P-73, the military designation for the secure airspace around the presidential office and other key government facilities, such as the headquarters of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

“I would like to clarify that there was no problem regarding the security of the presidential office in Yongsan,” the officer who conducted the background briefing said. “Given the distance, altitude and the enemy’s capabilities, we believe it was not able to take photos at that time.”

According to Yonhap, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup informed Yoon about the North Korean penetration of zone P-73 during a Wednesday briefing on the military’s efforts to improve its anti-drone capabilities. 

The JCS has previously denied rumors that any of North Korea’s drones entered the presidential no-fly zone, calling them “untrue and groundless.” 

The South Korean military apologized to Yoon, and the general public, last week for its failure to intercept any of the five North Korean drones that unexpectedly flew across the border for the first time since 2017. South Korean aircraft fired at one of the drones, and a South Korean plane crashed while responding to the incursion, but all five of the invading unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) returned safely to North Korea.

Yoon publicly criticized his military’s response to the incursion, blaming it in part on his liberal predecessor Moon Jae-in for neglecting military readiness while he aggressively pursued diplomacy with the psychotic North Korean regime. Yoon and the JCS assured the public that South Korea would step up its drone warfare efforts to prevent future incidents.

On Wednesday, Yoon warned North Korea that if it violates South Korean airspace again, he will consider suspending the inter-Korean military agreement that was made by Moon and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in 2018.