South Korean President Yoon Seok el said Tuesday that he would push for the creation of a military unit specializing in drones, criticizing the military response to North Korean drone incursions on the border.
Five North Korean drones invaded South Korea on Monday, prompting Seoul to intercept combat planes and attack helicopters and attempt to shoot them down, the first such incursion since 2017.
North Korean Drone South Korea Covid 19
The incident revived questions about South Korea’s air defense as it grapples with evolving nuclear and missile threats from the North.
The military fired warning shots and a hundred rounds from a helicopter equipped with a machine gun, but failed to shoot down any of the drones as they flew over several South Korean cities, including the capital Seoul, for about five hours.
“The incident demonstrated a significant lack of training and education in our military over the past few years and clearly affirmed the need for more intensive training and education,” Yoon said at a Cabinet meeting.
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Yoon blamed his predecessor’s “dangerous” policy toward North Korea, which was based on Pyongyang’s “good intentions” and the 2018 inter-Korean military pact banning hostile actions in border areas, for being unprepared.
“We had planned to create a drone unit for surveillance and reconnaissance of North Korea’s major military installations, and now we are going to accelerate that plan as much as possible,” he added, pledging to strengthen its surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities with advanced stealth drones.
4-Minute Reading December 27, 2022, 6:58 a.m. GMT+7 last update 20 hours ago
South Korea condemns Yoon’s response to drones from the north and promises to create a drone unit
Author: Hyunhee Shin
Seoul, Dec. 27 (Reuters) – South Korean President Yun Seok el announced Tuesday that he would push for the creation of a military unit specializing in drones, criticizing the military response to North Korean drone incursions on the border.
Five North Korean drones invaded South Korea on Monday, prompting Seoul to intercept combat planes and attack helicopters and attempt to shoot them down, the first such incursion since 2017.
The incident revived questions about South Korea’s air defense as it struggles to cope with the North’s evolving nuclear and missile threats.
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The military fired warning shots and a hundred rounds from a helicopter equipped with a machine gun, but failed to shoot down any of the drones as they flew over several South Korean cities, including the capital Seoul, for about five hours.
“The incident demonstrated a significant lack of training and education in our military over the past few years and clearly affirmed the need for more intensive training and education,” Yoon said at a Cabinet meeting.
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Yoon blamed his predecessor’s “dangerous” policy toward North Korea, which was based on Pyongyang’s “good intentions” and the 2018 inter-Korean military pact banning hostile actions in border areas, for being unprepared.
“We had planned to set up a drone unit to monitor and reconnaissance major North Korean military targets, and now we are going to accelerate that plan as much as possible,” he added, pledging to strengthen its surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities with advanced stealth drones.
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The military apologized for not shooting down the drones, which it believed were too small to be easily intercepted, measuring about 3 meters (118 inches).
The military also said it could not attack them aggressively because of concerns about civilian safety, and promised to improve drone capabilities, including hit tools, jamming and radar technology, and regular air defense drills.
“Unfortunately, we have failed to quickly and effectively shoot down enemy drones with public safety in mind,” Kan Shin Chul, a senior official of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), told a briefing. “As a result, the unpreparedness of our military has caused great concern among the public.”
ROUGH BUT DEVASTATING
The incident was the latest airspace incursion by drones from the isolated North, as the two Koreas technically remained at war after their 1950-53 war ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
In 2017, a North Korean drone on an apparent spying mission crashed and was found on a mountain near the border. In 2014, a North Korean drone was found on an island bordering South Korea.
Both devices were considered crude, with cameras on them containing mostly images of South Korean military installations and border areas.
But the 2017 drone was capable of flying up to 490 kilometers (304 miles) and had twice the operating capacity and battery power of the 2014 aircraft, officials in Seoul said at the time.
JCS said the last drones were similar in size, but it was unclear whether they were more technically advanced.
Analysts said the drones may be too small and primitive to perform full reconnaissance missions, but they could be enough to carry weapons or disrupt airborne activity, as seen Monday when flights from Incheon and Kimpo airports were briefly suspended.
“The incident took the Southern Army by surprise, exposing the immaturity of its responses,” said Cha Du Hyun, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. “They will need to test their GPS jamming and global response systems.”
A 2016 report by U.N. sanctions monitors said North Korea has about 300 drones of various types, including for reconnaissance, targeting and warfare. The monitor noted that the drones found in the south used parts imported from China, the Czech Republic, Japan, Switzerland and the United States.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has publicly expressed interest in drones and promised at a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party last year to develop new reconnaissance drones capable of flying up to 500 kilometers.
