▲ North Korean drone found in Inje, Gangwon-do on June 21, 2017


Attention is drawn to the intention and background of North Korea's provocation today (26th) of invading our airspace with an unmanned aerial vehicle for the first time in five years.



According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, several unidentified tracks presumed to be North Korean drones were detected in the Gyeonggi-do area from around 10:25 am today.



The number of unmanned aerial vehicles was also identified at several levels.



The North Korean drones have crossed over to Gimpo, Paju, and Ganghwa Island in Gyeonggi Province, and some have come down to areas with civilians and villages, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.



It has been five years since a North Korean drone invaded our airspace on June 9, 2017, when it was discovered in Yasan, Inje, Gangwon.



Analysts say that North Korea's provocation revealed its intention to continue to escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, first of all.



Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University, said, "Usually, North Korea has refrained from provocations during the December settlement period, but this year is different." said.



Regarding this provocation, Professor Park said, "The fact that the drone entered our airspace is a high-intensity provocation equivalent to an act of aggression." " was predicted.





After launching artillery fire in the buffer zone in explicit violation of the 9/19 agreement in October last year, North Korea also faulted South Korea-US artillery fire drills earlier this month and fired artillery into the buffer zone in the East Sea. The agreement has been blatantly breached.



Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, said, "North Korea's launch of the drone is a clear violation of the 9/19 military agreement." I did.



There is also an analysis that a multi-purpose paving stone was laid to confuse the South and at the same time look at the South's preparedness.



In fact, at the request of the Joint Chiefs of Staff this afternoon, the aviation authorities took measures to suspend take-off at Incheon International Airport and Gimpo Airport for about an hour and then lifted it.



Regarding this, Yang said, "This is the first case of our side stopping flights due to the appearance of North Korean drones," and analyzed, "There is also an intention to cause confusion to us."



From a military point of view, it is interpreted that North Korea also intended to strengthen its relatively weak 'reconnaissance assets'.



Professor Park Won-gon said, "North Korea's most vulnerable area is reconnaissance assets," and evaluated, "There is also an intention to fill in the lack of reconnaissance assets in the conventional aspect."



On the other hand, when South Korean experts evaluated North Korea’s satellite photos as “poor,” it was observed that the drone provocation was launched less than a week after Kim Yeo-jeong, vice-president of the Workers’ Party of Korea, poured out harsh words on the 20th. also comes out



(Photo = Yonhap News)