The Military’s Response to North Korean Drones Was “Altogether Incompetent”

Joint Air Defense Drill Near the Border: The sight of a Cobra helicopter flying over Gimpo airspace seen from the border area in Paju-si, Gyeonggi on January 5, when the Joint Chiefs of Staff conducted a joint air defense drill to respond to North Korean drones infiltrating the South. Yonhap News

On January 5, it was confirmed that one of the North Korean drones that had invaded South Korean airspace on December 26 infiltrated the no-fly zone designated over the Office of the President in Yongsan (P-73). The military had announced that the enemy’s unmanned aerial vehicle did not enter P-73, but changed its position ten days after the incident. The latest announcement revealed problems in general exposing the military’s holes in its ability to analyze intelligence as well as its failure in responding to the NK drones.

On January 5, a representative of the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced, “According to the investigation by the war preparedness inspection office, the track of what is believed to be a small enemy drone that entered Seoul appears to have passed through the northern end of P-73.” P-73 is a zone with a radius of 3.7 kilometers centered on the Office of the President and the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan. The zone also includes some parts of Seocho, Dongjak and Jung-gu. In a parliamentary Intelligence Committee session on Thursday, the National Intelligence Service announced that the drone could have captured images of the presidential office.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff representative, when the unmanned aerial vehicles infiltrated the South’s airspace on December 26, part of the track of one vehicle was detected in a radar monitoring the airspace over Seoul. The drone repeatedly appeared and disappeared on the radar, leaving tracks in the form of dots instead of a line. The agents monitoring the radar in real time did not recognize it as a drone. But the war preparedness inspection office began reanalyzing the situation on December 27, connecting the dots that appeared on the radar. This was how they came to know that a drone infiltrated P-73, according to the explanation by the representative. Military leaders, Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Seung-kyum, reported the latest analysis result to President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday. The military was not able to properly identify the tracks caught on radar for ten days after the unmanned aerial vehicles invaded Seoul’s airspace.

When the press mentioned the possibility of a drone flying near Yongsan on December 27, the Joint Chiefs of Staff had announced, “There was no track showing that a vehicle entered the airspace over Yongsan.” At the time, an official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff explained that a drone flew from east to west and from west to east over northern Seoul including Eunpyeong and Seongbuk-gu, and that the track was far from even Cheongwadae (in the heart of Seoul). They even accused an opposition lawmaker of acting to the advantage of the enemy when he mentioned the possibility of a drone infiltrating P-73.

On December 29, when Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Byung-joo said, “The North Korean drone returned after passing through the airspace north of the Office of the President in Yongsan,” Lee Sung-joon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson, refuted that it was a groundless rumor and not fact and expressed strong regret. Jeon Ha-gyu, spokesperson for the defense ministry said, “Misleading the public by making something that is not true sound like fact is an act favorable to the enemy.”

The day the North Korean drones invaded the South’s airspace, one KA-1, an armed airborne controller, crashed, and the military came under fire for its incompetence after it failed to even fire surface-to-air weapons because they could not obtain information on the target. The military, which had boasted “the highest level of military preparedness,” was humiliated after its incompetence in collecting and analyzing intelligence in the center of Seoul, where the military should have maintained the highest level of air defense system, was exposed.

The military belatedly disclosed the fact that an NK drone infiltrated P-73, but the explanation was not sufficient. The Joint Chiefs of Staff did not release details, such as the location and distance of the North Korean Drone when it penetrated P-73 for “national security” reasons. They argued that the enemy could use the location of our tracking equipment.

A stream of related questions came forth, but the Joint Chiefs of Staff representative simply repeated that the NK drone practically brushed past P-73 and said, “It did not fly over Yongsan. It was outside the distance necessary to ensure the safety of the Office of the President.” He also argued, “Even if the drone captured images, it is not likely to have obtained any meaningful information.”

The Joint Chiefs of Staff made the announcement Thursday in the form of an anonymous back-briefing, but it publicly expressed regret after it came under fire. Spokesperson Lee Sung-joon said, “At the time, we announced information based on the facts first confirmed by our agents, and later, we came to explain the results of a close analysis conducted during the comprehensive investigation by the war preparedness inspection office.” He added, “We express our regret for having caused confusion in the press coverage due to the inconsistency in our two announcements.”

The Democratic Party argued that the failed operation by an incompetent military was the worst act that worked to the advantage of the enemy and demanded the people responsible, such as the defense minister, be reprimanded. They also announced plans to promote an emergency questioning and a parliamentary hearing. Leader Lee Jae-myung wrote on social media Thursday, “We define the ‘false report on the operation’ by the military authorities as a breach of military discipline and will strictly hold the rightful people responsible.” He also addressed President Yoon Suk-yeol and said, “If he is the commander-in-chief, he should apologize to the nation for an unprecedented disaster in national security and reprimand the incompetence and fraud of the people responsible.” In the policy coordination meeting at the National Assembly, floor leader Park Hong-keun said, “Where is the end of this anxiety over security exhibited by an incompetent government. It is very concerning.” He argued that the government should uncover the truth and strictly reprimand the defense minister and the head of the presidential security office for trying to conceal their failures in the military operation and in the president’s security with lies.