N. Korea drones emerge as security threats

Two suspected North Korean drones, which crashed on South Korean territory, could pose potential security threats although they are technologically outdated, analysts said Wednesday.

The two light-blue unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were equipped with low-definition airborne digital cameras that had no wireless connection, military officials and analysts said.

“What really happened is that a drone fitted with an estimated 800-gram digital camera flew over the presidential house undetected taking pictures,” said Shin In-kyun, chief of the Korea Defense Network.

“What if it was not a reconnaissance drone but one with 800 grams of biochemical weapons? The UAVs show that Pyongyang does not need cutting-edge technology to cause great harm to Seoul.”

The wreckage of an unidentified UAV was found on the South’s Baengnyeong Island, Monday, just after the two Koreas exchanged hundreds of artillery rounds and rockets over the nearby Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border in the West Sea.

A week earlier, the remains of a crashed UAV with a similar airframe was discovered in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, just south of the Demilitarized Zone after filming Cheong Wa Dae and adjacent areas.

Seoul carried out a thorough examination of the two drones to confirm their origin after which presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said Wednesday that Cheong Wa Dae had tentatively concluded they were from North Korea.

Shin said Seoul should not become too complacent because of the North’s crude technology.

“Currently, we cannot detect low-latitude flights of small aerial vehicles. In my view, we are required to upgrade our radar system so that we will be able to cover such things,” Shin said.

“Remember that the North is suspected of having drones, which can attack ground targets.”

In a report to the U.S. Congress early last month, the Pentagon disclosed that North Korea had deployed a UAV designed to attack ground targets with stolen U.S. drone technology.

The Pentagon’s conclusion was reached after analyzing images of a North Korean UAV in flight during the North’s military drill in March.

“The drone appeared to be a North Korea copy of a Raytheon MQM-107 Streaker target drone,” the report said. “North Korean press coverage of the event described the UAV as being capable of precision strikes by crashing into a target.”

Chang Yong-seok, a researcher at the Institute of Peace and Unification Studies affiliated with Seoul National University, advised further caution.

“Obviously, we have to be ready for threats from North Korea by introducing new state-of-the-art radar systems,” Chang said.

“But we should avoid overblown worries, too. Let me remind you of the fact that the resolution of the cameras in the drones at issue is worse than those of Google Earth. I think we need to be more realistic rather than overstating the current situation.” By Kim Tae-gyu, The Korea Times