The United Nations said flying drones into each other’s airspace violated the armistice that ended fighting during the 1950-1953 Korean War.
North Korea and South Korea violated ceasefire adjusted their shared border by sending drones into each other’s airspace in December, the US-led United Nations Command said.
Five North Korean drones entered the South on December 26, forcing the Korean army to fight for fighters and helicopters as well as sending surveillance planes into the North to take pictures of the country’s military facilities.
The United Nations Command, which has helped monitor the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas since the armistice ended fighting in the 1950-1953 Korean War, said on Thursday that they had conducted a special investigation into the airspace violations to determine whether there were any ceasefire violations.
The two countries’ drone incursions constituted a violation, but Korea’s effort The United Nations Command said in a statement that shooting down the drones in its airspace did not violate the armistice.
Technically, Seoul and Pyongyang are still at war as no permanent peace treaty has been reached to end the Korean War.
“The United Nations Command reaffirms that compliance with the provisions of the Armistice Agreement is essential to reduce the risk of accidental and intentional incidents through the prevention of escalation and to uphold the cessation of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula,” the United Nations Command said.
A spokesman for South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said the military’s use of drones along the border with North Korea is a measure of self-defense against North Korean drone incursions and not limited by the armistice.
North Korea has not commented publicly on the drone incidents.
South Korea’s Yonhapy news agency reported on Thursday that South Korean soldiers on the border with North Korea did not initially consider the drone flights an emergency, a miscalculation attributed to the South’s slow response to the invasion.
“The 1st Army Corps staff first detected one of the drones infiltrating the inter-Korean border, but they did not consider it an ’emergency’ that would trigger key mechanisms to quickly quickly share and disseminate information among relevant military units,” Yonhap reported.
A review of the delay is under investigation, according to the news agency.
Tensions between the two countries are increasing. North Korea has conducted a record number of missile launches and other weapons tests, and South Korea has responded with increased military activities, including joint exercises with US allies. and Japan.
