South Korean President Lee Jae-myung ordered a thorough investigation on Saturday over the possibility that civilians operated drones that infiltrated North Korean territory at the beginning of the year, according to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The president warned that if this hypothesis is confirmed, those responsible would have committed a "serious crime" by endangering peace on the peninsula and national security, the Noticias Argentinas agency learned. The presidential directive, reported by Yonhap agency, came after the North Korean People's Army General Staff denounced a new aerial incursion from the South. Although the Ministry of Defense in Seoul initially called the accusations "absolutely false," an analysis of the images provided by Pyongyang suggests that the captured aircraft does not match the models used by the South Korean army, pointing to a possible civilian origin. Investigation under maximum tension Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek confirmed that the armed forces did not conduct drone flights on the dates cited by the North. Seoul is now seeking to identify the operators of these devices to prevent a private initiative from escalating into a large-scale conflict.
