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On October 19th, North Korean authorities declared that they had found evidence indicating South Korea’s involvement in drone incidents in the area of Pyongyang. A representative of the DPRK military department noted that the wreckage of a South Korean drone was discovered by the military near the capital.
According to a representative of the North Korean Ministry of Defense, on October 13, the Pyongyang City Security Directorate of the Ministry of Public Security discovered the wreckage of a crashed drone around the 76th neighborhood in the Sopho Henjesan district during intensive searches in the areas of Pyongyang. The DPRK Defense Ministry suggests that the “small-sized remote reconnaissance drone” of the Republic of Korea” was scattering leaflets in the center of Pyongyang.
As an example, the North Korean military cited several photos with a similar drone used by the South Korean army.
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Tensions in the Korean Peninsula began to rise on October 11, when North Korea accused Seoul of sending drones over Pyongyang that scattered a “huge number” of anti-North leaflets. The DPRK military warned that the repeated invasion of the “military means of the Republic of Korea” will be regarded as a “declaration of war”, which will be followed by immediate retaliatory strikes. A representative of the Ministry of Defense of the DPRK noted that the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army decided to maintain the state of full combat readiness of artillery units near the border with South Korea. On October 18th, the South Korean army on Yeonpyeong Island has been put on alert due to unusual movement in North Korean coastal artillery positions.
On October 16, the KCNA reported that more than a million young people have signed up to join or rejoin the KPA as a result of the tensions with South Korea.
On October 17th, the Republic of Korea was officially declared as a state hostile to the DPRK in the updated North Korean Constitution. The DPRK has also reportedly completely eliminated road and rail links with South Korea as part of a policy of territorial demarcation with its southern neighbor. Kim Jong Un said that the move means “not only the physical closure but also the end of the evil relationship with Seoul” and “the complete removal of the useless awareness about fellow countrymen and unreasonable idea of reunification,” according to the agency.
At the end of May, North Korea began sending balloons with garbage to South Korea. In total, since the end of May, North Korea has launched about 5.5 thousand balloons more than 22 times. At the end of September, Seoul threatened the neighboring country with decisive military measures in response to such incidents. In response, South Korea sent leaflets condemning the actions of their neighbor to the DPRK. In addition, Seoul resumed broadcasting k-pop banned in the DPRK and news from loudspeakers at the border.
