Military admits North Korean drone got near president's office

A North Korean drone did enter the P-73 no fly zone in Seoul, the South Korean military admitted on Thursday, contradicting its denial last week. The Yongsan presidential office and the Defense Ministry are both in the P-73 area...

Air defense training to shoot down drones is conducted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Yangju, Gyeonggi, on Dec. 29. [NEWS1]

President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the military to immediately disclose that a North Korean drone came into the P-73 no fly zone in Seoul after he learned that the public had gotten different information from what he was told.

According to the Yongsan presidential office on Thursday, the military cross checked information on the path the drones took and briefed the president on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the military admitted publicly that one North Korean drone did enter the P-73 no fly zone, contradicting its denial last week.

The Yongsan presidential office and the Defense Ministry are both in the P-73 area along with parts of southern Seoul's Seocho and Dongjak districts and a part of Jung District in central Seoul.

North Korea sent five drones across the inter-Korean border on Dec. 26.

The National Intelligence Service admitted Thursday that one drone may have been able to film the presidential office, slightly deviating from an earlier report by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The JCS reported to the president Wednesday that one of drones did enter the P-73 no fly zone, but it only "skirted" it.

The JCS dismissed the possibility that the drone flew directly over the presidential office.

The five unmanned aerial vehicles were spotted over Gyeonggi at around 10: 25 a.m., and in Incheon and parts of Seoul.

One entered northern Seoul via Paju and returned across the border after three hours.

The other four flew over Ganghwa Island, Incheon, and Gimpo in northern Gyeonggi before vanishing from South Korean radar.

Caught by surprise, South Korea's military could not even confirm immediately if the drones were from the North.

It deployed a total of 20 warplanes, including F-15Ks, KF-16s and KA-1 light attack aircraft to intercept and shoot down the drones but all attempts failed.

Airports in the South were forced to close temporarily.

At the time, the military denied any drone entered the P-73 no fly zone that includes the Yongsan presidential office.

“The enemy’s unmanned aerial vehicle did not infiltrate into the P-73 no fly zone,” the JCS said in a statement on Dec. 29.

The JCS apologized earlier for the failure to shoot down any of the drones.

They were the first drones to cross the border from the North since 2017.

A North Korean drone crashed on a mountain in Inje, Gangwon, on June 9, 2017. It was found to have taken photos of a Thaad missile base in Seongju, North Gyeongsang.

The JCS held air defense training on Dec. 29 to simulate shooting down drones. It held more on Thursday.

The National Intelligence Service suspects North Korea currently has 500 drones of 20 different types, according to a briefing at the National Assembly Thursday.

While the intelligence service has detected development of medium to large size surveillance drones that can travel long distances, it considers the technology including high performing detection sensors to be relatively unsophisticated.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]