In 2014, when a North Korean drone was filming the Blue House
Capital Defense Commander… ‘Bad relationship’ with North Korean drones
In August 2014, then-Capital Defense Commander Kim Yong-hyeon (third from right) explains North Korean drones prior to attending the Seoul Integrated Defense Conference held at the Baekbeom Memorial Hall in Seoul. yunhap news
While the opposition party is demanding responsibility for the failure to respond to North Korean drones, Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Kim Seung-gyeom, and President Kim Yong-hyun, chief of the Presidential Security Service, are being held accountable. This is because Director Kim was in charge of the Capital Defense Command (Lieutenant General of the Army) in charge of guarding the Blue House at the time of the 2014 North Korean drone shooting at the Blue House.
In March 2014, a North Korean drone that crashed in Paju, Gyeonggi Province was found. A total of 193 photos were taken by the drone, including photos of the Blue House, a key security area. As a result of the investigation, it was confirmed that he took pictures of the precincts while staying over the Blue House for more than 20 seconds. At the time, there were reprimands for not being able to detect the unidentified drone flying over the Blue House with the air defense radar network. It is said that it has revealed serious loopholes in airspace management in the core of Seoul. The theory of responsibility inside and outside the military focused on the then commander of the Defense Defense Command at the time, Kim Yong-hyun, the commander of the Defense Security Command, and the head of the Blue House Security Office, who were in charge of the Blue House security.
Even the Saenuri Party, the ruling party at the time (predecessor of the People’s Power), belatedly grasped the Blue House filming situation, saying, “Even if it is a test unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, was our sky so lax that the test plane came in and out like this?” A lamenting voice came out, saying, “How is it different from the ‘knock defection’ case that I knew regarding?” As the initial response failure and the suspicion of the reduction and concealment were added, the theory of censure was strengthened, but it was not.
Eight years later, the latest North Korean drone invasion of airspace also exposed loopholes in the security of the presidential office. It was confirmed in 10 days that one of the North Korean drones that invaded South Korean airspace on the 26th of last month had penetrated into the no-fly zone (P-73) set around the Yongsan presidential office. The military said, “Enemy drones did not invade the P-73,” but later reversed the announcement. The National Intelligence Service reported to the National Assembly on the 5th that it might not rule out the possibility that a North Korean drone filmed the Yongsan presidential office. The opposition party urged on the 6th to “severely reprimand the Minister of National Defense and the head of the Presidential Security Service.”
Director Kim was the person who led the relocation of the Presidential Office to Yongsan by serving as the head of the security and security team of the ‘Presidential Office Relocation TF (Task Force)’ right following the last presidential election. He is one year senior to President Yoon Seok-yeol at Chungam High School.
Some criticize that the North Korean drone crisis has affected the response capability as the P-73 was reduced due to the relocation of Yongsan. The P-73 no-fly zone was set in a radius of 3.7 km centered on a specific point near the office for the security of the presidential office. At the time when the presidential office was in the Blue House, the P-73 It is set in a radius of 8.3km, including Area A with a radius of 3.7km and Area B with a radius of 4.6km centered on the Blue House. Due to the relocation of the Presidential Office in Yongsan, it was changed to a radius of 3.7 km centered around the Presidential Office, and Area B disappeared.
