Police Impose Travel Bans on Three Suspects in 'North Korea Drone Infiltration' Case

The military-police joint investigation task force (TF) probing North Korea's claim of "South Korean drone infiltration" imposed travel bans on three civilian suspects on January 21.

Yonhap News Agency

According to a summary of The Asia Business Daily's coverage on January 23, the suspects have reportedly been charged with violating the Act on the Protection of Military Bases and Installations.

The joint investigation TF conducted searches of the residences and offices of the three suspects on charges of violating the Aviation Safety Act. It has been confirmed that Mr. Oh, currently a graduate student, and Mr. Jang, who manufactured the drones, both previously worked as contract employees at the Yongsan Presidential Office during the administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Mr. Oh and Mr. Jang, who attended the same private university in Seoul as senior and junior students, served as CEO and director, respectively, at a drone manufacturing company they founded in 2024 with support from their school. In 2020, they also organized and participated in a youth group focused on unification issues.

On January 16, Mr. Oh revealed in a broadcast interview that he was the individual who sent the drone to North Korea.

Mr. Oh also operated two online media outlets reporting on North Korea. Allegations have surfaced that a commissioned officer from the Defense Intelligence Command used these two outlets as front companies for intelligence operations and provided approximately 10 million won in operational funds. The joint investigation TF did not search the two locations registered as offices for these media outlets on this day.

Previously, a spokesperson for the General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army claimed in a statement on January 10 that North Korea had shot down drones infiltrated by South Korea in September of last year and again on January 4. The Ministry of National Defense responded that the South Korean military does not possess the drones in question and pledged to thoroughly investigate the possibility that they were civilian drones.

President Lee Jaemyung stated, "If (the infiltration of civilian drones) is true, it constitutes a serious crime that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and national security," and ordered the military-police joint investigation team to conduct a swift and rigorous investigation.