South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol stressed that North Korea’s invasion of drones is an unacceptable incident, and that for peace, we must prepare for overwhelming war. The United Nations Command has launched an investigation into the violation of South Korean airspace by North Korean drones. Reporter Kim Hwan-yong reports from Seoul.
South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol said, “The invasion of North Korean drones into airspace is an incident that cannot be tolerated.”
Lee Jae-myeong, deputy spokesman for the Korean President’s Office, said in a written briefing that President Yoon visited the Daejeon Defense Science Research Institute (ADD) on the 29th and said this.
President Yoon said, “Only firm punishment and retaliation for acts that violate freedom can deter provocations.” You should never hesitate.”
He also said, “Reexamine the overall response system for all flying objects invading South Korean airspace, as well as North Korean drones, and promptly make up for deficiencies.” It needs to be done,” he pointed out.
In particular, President Yoon emphasized, “In order to achieve peace, we must prepare for a war that is overwhelmingly superior.”
On the 26th, following five North Korean drones invaded South Korean airspace and some penetrated over Seoul, President Yoon ordered strong countermeasures every day, while sending high-intensity warning messages to North Korea.
Previously, on the 28th, at a meeting with the presidential staff, he ordered “to punish and retaliate with certainty once morest any provocation by North Korea” and “neither fear nor hesitation that North Korea has nuclear weapons.”
The Defense Science Research Institute is a national research institute under the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea that is in charge of investigation, research, development, and testing of weapons and defense science and technology. Reported.
Dr. Park Hyeong-joong of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a national research institute under the South Korean government, said it was a response to President Yoon’s series of warnings as the level of North Korea’s provocations was escalating to the extent of invading South Korean territory.
[녹취: 박형중 박사] “From the standpoint of the South Korean government, there is no choice but to expect North Korea to step up its conventional provocations step by step. If North Korea crosses the road once more, there will be a greater response.
North Korea has launched armed provocations with unprecedented frequency this year, including launching regarding 60 ballistic missiles over 30 times, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
At the same time, there were air force demonstrations using fighter jets and bombers, and shelling targeting the maritime buffer zone, where military actions were agreed to be suspended due to the 9.19 inter-Korean military agreement.
Experts predict that North Korea will diversify its provocations with so-called ‘gray zone’ strategies in addition to high-intensity provocations such as nuclear weapons and missiles in the winter season when mobility is low, starting with this drone provocation.
The ‘gray zone’ strategy is a method of directly attacking the opponent or gradually disrupting the opponent’s inside in a state where the provocation is unclear.
Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University, said, “As seen in this case where South Korean Air Force planes were dispatched to several unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft operations were temporarily suspended, it can be a low-cost and high-efficiency provocation method for North Korea.”
[녹취: 박원곤 교수] “North Korea also flew drones like this and is not talking regarding anything right now. For example, a military camouflage like a civilian or something like that is one of the gray zone strategies. So for North Korea, this is a very advantageous way to achieve their goals.”
For this reason, there are observations that North Korea will test the South Korean military’s response posture in the future by provoking a ‘gray zone’ similar to the provocation of a cyber attack or a wooden ship mine in the past.
Kim Hyung-seok, former Vice Minister of Unification of South Korea, diagnosed that North Korea is showing off its various capabilities that can neutralize South Korea’s defense network and threatening it.
[녹취: 김형석 전 차관] “Isn’t it to induce a change in attitude toward North Korea within the Republic of Korea? That is, there are many such intentions to cause disagreement and conflict within the Republic of Korea with the message that the Republic of Korea should change its strong policy toward North Korea.”
In the midst of this, the United Nations Command has launched an investigation into the violation of South Korean airspace by a North Korean drone.
In a statement released on the 29th, the UNC said, “We are aware of reports that North Korean drones have flown across the Military Demarcation Line (MDL),” and “a special investigation team has been formed.”
The investigation is expected to be conducted not only in North Korea, but also in South Korea, which has launched reconnaissance activities by flying three drones north of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in response to North Korea’s drone provocation.
Given that the UNC has been investigating violations of the armistice agreement between the two Koreas, it is an observation that it will investigate violations of both sides.
The South Korean Ministry of National Defense said that the contents of the South Korean drone’s operation north of the Military Demarcation Line were shared with the UN Command.
Jeon Ha-kyu, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, explained at a regular briefing, “We were sharing information related to the UNC on this issue” when asked regarding the UNC’s response to the South Korean drone operation.
The South Korean military authorities are said to be in a position that the UNC approval process is not necessary because the South Korean drone operation is a self-defense measure once morest North Korea’s provocation.
Meanwhile, the South Korean military held a joint air defense drill on the 29th, assuming a North Korean drone provocation.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Kim Seung-gyeom conducted a training to respond to and destroy enemy small drones in the Kanap-ri area of Gyeonggi-do, with the participation of the Ground Operations Command, each corps, the Air Force Operations Command, and the Army Aviation Command.
About 20 manned and unmanned forces, including the Air Force KA-1 tactical controller, Apache and Cobra attack helicopters, participated in the training, which was conducted to establish the concept of countermeasures once morest 2m-class small unmanned aerial vehicles and to master practical operational procedures.
This is VOA News Kim Hwan-yong from Seoul.
