County to Investigate Reporting Process of 'Drone Flight Path'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been confirmed that the military is investigating how the media came to report the intrusion of a North Korean drone into the no-fly zone (P-73).

On the 26th, a representative from the Republic of Korea Counterintelligence Command, who appeared at the National Assembly National Defense Committee plenary session, responded to a question from Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Byung-joo about whether an investigation was underway following the drone intrusion, stating, "A security investigation is currently in progress."

The Counterintelligence Command is conducting investigations targeting the Joint Chiefs of Staff and military personnel, while the National Intelligence Service is reportedly conducting a separate investigation targeting Ministry of National Defense officials. The investigation is presumed to clarify the process behind the media report on the 5th that the North Korean drone, which entered Seoul, had breached P-73, a zone established around the Presidential Office for presidential security.

The investigation does not target media companies or journalists but is a procedure to examine whether military personnel and public officials, who are bound by confidentiality obligations, leaked related information.

Since the North Korean drone flew over the airspace on the 26th of last month and returned, the possibility that it flew as far as the Yongsan Presidential Office area has been raised from the early stages of the incident. However, the military, in a text message sent to the press corps on the 29th of last month and in a statement on the 31st, confidently denied such a possibility, stating, "The enemy drone did not breach P-73." After subsequent reports, the military changed its stance, saying that additional analysis of the drone's flight path suggests it passed over the northern edge of P-73.