North Korea says South sent drones over its capital, warns of conflict

South Korea said it has not sent a drone to the North.

By Taejun Kang for RFA
Taipei, Taiwan

North Korea said on Friday that South Korea has sent unmanned drones over its capital, Pyongyang, three times since last week, adding it could lead to “an armed conflict that could even escalate into war.”

South Korea denied the North's claim and said it had not sent a drone to North Korea.

The North’s foreign ministry, in an “important message” published by the Korean Central News Agency late in the afternoon, said South Korea sent drones carrying leaflets over Pyongyang on Oct. 3, as well as on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

“(It) is a blatant infringement of the sacred national sovereignty and safety, and a violent violation of international law,” the ministry said.

It demanded that the South immediately end its “dangerous provocation” that it said could lead to “an armed conflict that could even escalate into war.”

“With all offensive forces at the ready, we are issuing this stern warning to the DPRK as a final ultimatum,” the ministry added, referring North Korea to its official name the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“There will be no such warning again, and we will immediately move to action if the ROK makes another provocative act of flying an unmanned aircraft into the DPRK’s airspace,” it added. The Republic of Korea, or ROK, is South Korea’s official name.

North Korea also released photos of a drone that it said it had captured, as well as photos of propaganda leaflets and bundles sent from the South.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said South Korea had not sent a drone to North Korea.

“There is no evidence that the military sent the drone to North Korea,” an official from the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

“We have to check if it was sent by a civic group.”

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Tensions between the rivals have been exacerbated in recent months by a North Korean campaign of sending trash-carrying balloons over South Korea, in response to anti-North Korea activists sending propaganda leaflets into North Korea the same way.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North started to send what it suspected were trash-laden balloons to the South about an hour after the statement on the drones.

This would mark the 28th time this year that North Korea has floated a garbage-carrying balloon to the South.

Edited by RFA Staff.