Three civilians accused of flying drones to North Korea

A joint military-police investigative task force probing the launch of drones into North Korean territory by civilians said Thursday it had referred three suspects to prosecutors, including a startup executive and graduate student in his 30s identified only by his surname Oh.

The task force said it transferred the three civilian suspects to the prosecution on charges including aiding the enemy under the Criminal Act, violations of the Aviation Safety Act and breaches of the Military Base and Military Installations Protection Act. The suspects are Oh, a director at startup company E; Jang, the company’s chief executive who manufactured the drones; and Kim, the firm’s director in charge of North Korea-related affairs. Oh was referred while in detention.

According to police, the suspects launched drones toward North Korea on four occasions: Sept. 27, Nov. 16 and Nov. 22 last year, and Jan. 4 this year. The drones were programmed to depart from Ganghwa Island in Incheon, pass through Kaesong and Pyeongsan in North Korea and then return to Paju in Gyeonggi Province.

Investigators also confirmed that the suspects carried out eight test flights between June and November last year in the Yeoju area of Gyeonggi Province to verify the drones’ performance before sending them north.

A drone discovered after crashing in Yeoju on Nov. 13 last year was also confirmed to be part of one of those test flights. At the time, the Yeoju Police Station and the Defense Counterintelligence Command concluded there were no indications of anti-state activity, reportedly determining that the drone operation was not connected to North Korea.

Police now say that during the drones’ flights toward the North, images of South Korean military installations were captured without authorization. They also concluded that when one of the drones crashed in North Korea, sensitive military information could have been exposed. Investigators added that the incident heightened tensions between the two Koreas and prompted changes in the South Korean military’s surveillance posture.

Based on these findings, authorities determined that the suspects’ actions undermined South Korea’s military interests and applied charges including aiding the enemy.


권구용 9dragon@donga.com