President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, South Korea, 30 December 2025. File Photo by YONHAP / EPA
Jan. 10 (Asia Today) — South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Saturday ordered a joint military-police investigation after North Korea claimed a drone from the South infiltrated its airspace, saying any confirmed civilian operation would amount to a serious crime.
Lee instructed officials to form a joint investigative team and conduct a swift, rigorous probe, the presidential office said. If the allegation proves true, the office said, it would be “a serious crime” that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and national security.
North Korea’s claim was issued earlier Saturday in a statement in the name of a spokesperson for the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army, titled “South Korea must prepare to pay the price for repeatedly committing provocations of sovereignty violation via drones.” The statement said the North shot down drones it claimed infiltrated its airspace in September 2025 and on Sunday.
South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense reiterated that the military does not possess the type of drone North Korea displayed and said it was not a military operation. The ministry said it would thoroughly investigate the possibility the flights involved civilian drones.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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