Pyongyang Threatens Seoul With “Disaster” If It Sends Drones Again

North Korea warned South Korea on Sunday that it will face a “horrible disaster” if it sends drones flying over Pyongyang again.

" The next time a drone from the Republic of Korea [South Korea's official name] is spotted in the sky over our capital, it will surely unleash a horrible disaster,” warned the North Korean leader's sister, Kim Yo-jong, in a statement released by the North Korean state news agency.

 

On Friday, Pyonyang claimed that the South had sent drones to fly over the North Korean capital at least three times in the last week, in a serious military violation of sovereignty.

KCNA said that the drones were carrying propaganda leaflets against Kim Jong-un's regime.

“We will unleash strong retaliation, regardless of the factors involved in the drones carrying political propaganda from the Republic of Korea and infiltrating our territory,” said the deputy director of North Korea's Propaganda and Agitation Department.

“We are not concerned about who is the main provocative force behind the recent drone incident,” Kim added in the same statement.

KCNA also published an image allegedly showing one of the drones and a package of leaflets flying over the night sky, calling the action a “flagrant violation” of North Korean sovereignty and security and a “violent violation of international law”.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun denied these claims on the same day and said he was “unaware of the situation” when questioned by MPs following the KCNA publication.

For its part, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff indicated that it “cannot confirm the veracity of North Korea's allegations” and is investigating whether civilian organizations may have sent leaflets by drone.

In recent months, North Korea has sent more than 5,000 garbage balloons to the South, in response to the anti-regime propaganda balloons regularly sent by activists in the South.

These human rights activist groups have claimed that they have also sometimes managed to send 'drones' loaded with leaflets to North Korea.