Fragments of a drone lie scattered on the ground in Muksan-ri area, Kaepung district, Kaesong city, in North Korea. - Photo: Reuters
SEOUL: Two civilians suspected of involvement in sending a drone into North Korea were found to have previously worked at the presidential office under the former Yoon Suk Yeol administration.
According to local reports, a suspect believed to have made the drone, whom the police identified only as being in his 30s, previously served as a news monitoring staff member at the presidential spokesperson’s office.
He is believed to have worked at the presidential office in Yongsan-gu at a similar time as another suspect in his 30s, who has publicly claimed in an interview with a local broadcaster that he personally flew the drone into North Korea.
The man who investigators believe manufactured the drone was questioned on Friday (Jan 16) by a joint military-police task force formed to investigate North Korea’s claim earlier in January that a South Korean drone had intruded into its airspace in September 2025 and again on Jan 4.
The suspect had separately been referred to prosecutors in November 2025 on charges of violating the Aviation Security Act for flying an unregistered drone in Yeoju, Gyeonggi province.
The drone model involved in that case is reportedly the same as the one currently under investigation. At the time, military and police authorities said there were no indications of espionage after the suspect explained that the flight was a test of an airframe built in a laboratory.
Both suspects went to the same university in Seoul, and later founded a drone manufacturing start-up in 2024 with university support, serving as chief executive officer and director, respectively. In 2020, they also jointly organised and participated in a youth group focused on inter-Korea issues.
The second suspect maintains that the first suspect built the drone at his request but did not take part in flying it into the North.
In an interview with Channel A on Jan 16, he said: “The first suspect bought the main body from a Chinese online marketplace and carried out the first round of modifications, and I attached a camera and flew it into North Korea.”
The second suspect, who previously served as head of a conservative-leaning youth organisation, is currently enrolled in a graduate school of journalism at a major university in Seoul.
It has been reported that a senior official from the Yoon administration provided a letter of recommendation during his admissions process.
Some political figures have raised suspicions that the incident may have been intended to provoke a response from Pyongyang.
Among the charges Yoon faces in court is one of orchestrating a covert operation to send drones to Pyongyang with the aim of provoking North Korea into a response that could be used to justify the declaration of martial law on Dec 3, 2024.
The second suspect has denied any political motive, saying the drone was sent to measure radiation and heavy metal contamination near a uranium facility along the Yesong River.
He claimed the operation was intended to verify allegations – previously dismissed by the government – that nuclear wastewater from North Korea had flowed into the West Sea.
Police said they were investigating whether both suspects conspired in operating the drone, focusing on the motive and circumstances surrounding the incident.
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea has urged investigators to conduct a swift and rigorous probe, including whether any individuals or groups were involved.
“Authorities must (carry out) a prompt and thorough investigation, including whether there were any backers,” party spokesman Kim Ji-ho said during a Jan 17 briefing.
“All possibilities must remain open – whether this was a lone act, or whether there were connections or forces operating behind the scenes – and the facts must be clearly established,” he said.
Kim also cautioned against political speculation, saying: “This is not a matter to be handled through conjecture or political interpretation. Investigative authorities must block unnecessary controversy through strict law enforcement and transparent disclosure of the results.”
Democratic Party Representative Kang Deuk-gu echoed the call for scrutiny, but not the call for restraint on speculation.
“Yoon Suk Yeol and his followers provoked North Korea by mobilising the military during his time in office, and are now attempting to provoke Pyongyang again through civilian actors,” Kang wrote on Jan 17 on Facebook.
“This does not appear to be an accidental incident, but a typical method of inducing an external crisis,” he wrote.
Kang claimed that the aim was to provoke a North Korean reaction, trigger a localised conflict on the Korean peninsula, and amplify far-right narratives such as “Yoon was right” and “war with North Korea is inevitable”.
The joint military-police investigative task force, launched a week earlier, has so far officially summoned and questioned one civilian suspect in connection with North Korea’s drone intrusion claim. - The Korea Herald/ANN
