N.K drone snooped over Park Geun-hye’s office

Two crashed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) belonged to North Korea, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.

It was reported that the drone photographed Cheong Wa Dae and military facilities.

Ministry officials declined to confirm these reports.

The military discovered two drones equipped with Japanese made cameras — one in Paju, Gyeonggi Province on March 24 and the other on Baengnyeong Island on Tuesday.

Paju is located near the demilitarized zone, while the island sits just south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), across which the two Koreas exchanged fire of more than 800 artillery shells and rockets, Monday.

The UAV, discovered earlier, reportedly took pictures of military installations, the presidential compound and the national highway that — in a war — is expected to be the North’s main invasion route.

Military investigators are still examining the second drone to see if there was any connection to espionage operations.

“North Korea is believed to have developed the prototype drones for testing to enhance its aerial reconnaissance capability,” said a military officer.

The first one was on its way back to the North before it crashed in Paju, given that it had enough fuel to return across the border.

In addition, it had an inscription in Korean with North Korean standard spelling on the back of its battery. Both were equipped with parachutes.

In August 2010, the reclusive state fired about 110 artillery shells over the NLL — the de facto sea border between the two Koreas — and a reconnaissance UAV was spotted near Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong islands.

In November 2010, the use of drones helped the North’s bombardment of Baengnyeong Island, according to some experts.

Although UAVs are an emerging threat to the South, the military is struggling to deal with them because small-sized drones flying at low altitude are difficult to detect using radar.

“Currently, we do not have any radar to spot small drones and we can only shoot them down after finding them visually.

As a result, the military is seeking to import low-altitude surveillance radar that is capable of detecting moving targets infiltrating at low altitudes and transmitting target specifications.

“Recently, UAVs believed to be flown by North Korea are often spotted with the unaided eye around border areas, but are mistaken for birds,” said a military official.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said it is pushing to resume a troubled blimp development project, which has been delayed over technical problems.

“If North Korea has dispatched UAVs on reconnaissance missions, it can pose a serious threat to the South,” said Kim Dae-young, a senior research fellow at the Korea Defense and Security Forum.

“The North has deployed a large number of long-range artillery near the demilitarized zone, targeting Seoul and the capital area and taking advantage of drones, they can be much more accurate in hitting targets.”

North Korean watchers from the United States and the defense ministry said the unmanned aircraft appeared to be very rudimentary drones.

But Kim said that even outdated vehicles can be destructive.

“The North’s military technology is some 20 years behind that of the South. But just suppose that the aircraft are loaded with weapons including chemical ones such as anthrax. They will pose huge threats,” he said. By Kang Seung-woo, The Korea Times