North Korea says another South Korean drone entered its airspace

(Reuters)

SEOUL, Jan 10 – North Korea said on Saturday that South Korea flew another drone into its airspace on January 4, infringing on its sovereignty, according to state media KCNA.

The announcement, which comes before North Korea holds a key party congress that will lay out policies for the next five years, sets the stage for cementing leader Kim Jong Un’s rhetoric that South Korea is a foreign and hostile nation, an analyst said.

The drone, which originated from an island in the South Korean city of Incheon, flew 8 km (5 miles) before it was shot down inside North Korean airspace, KCNA said, citing a spokesperson for the North Korean military.

The drone was equipped with surveillance cameras to record “major” North Korean facilities, KCNA said. Photos on KCNA showed a drone salvaged in pieces, electronic parts and aerial photos of buildings that KCNA said the drone had taken.

KCNA said the incident follows a September incursion by another South Korean drone that was shot over Kaesong.

“Even after the change of a regime… (South Korea) has continued to commit such acts of provocation by drones near the border,” KCNA said, calling South Korea its “enemy most hostile”.

Since South Korean President Lee Jae Myung took office in June, North Korea has rebuffed conciliatory gestures from Lee’s administration. Lee had pledged to re-engage with Pyongyang to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea’s military said on Saturday it did not operate drones on the date North Korea is claiming, and that Lee has ordered a thorough investigation.