By Kwanwoo Jun
SEOUL--South Korean military authorities are investigating a
drone that crashed on an island near the disputed sea border with
North Korea, the defense ministry in Seoul said on Tuesday.
A local resident found the drone on Baengnyeong Island in the
Yellow Sea on Monday, when the two Koreas traded hundreds of rounds
of artillery fire in the area, defense ministry spokesman Kwon
Ki-hyeon said.
"The military authorities recovered parts of the drone for
investigation, " he said.
He declined to give any further details, such as which country
might have dispatched the drone.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, citing unnamed government
sources, reported that the drone matched another one that Seoul
suspects had been sent by North Korea before slamming into a hill
north of the South Korean capital last month.
The report said the latest drone had a Japanese-made engine and
various Chinese-made parts.
South Korea's defense ministry believes North Korea has deployed
drones along the border with the South. The North has displayed
drone-like aerial vehicles during its military parades and in March
last year its state media reported dictator Kim Jong Un guided a
drill of "super precision drones."
South Korea has been eager to bolster its own capabilities to
spy on North Korea with reconnaissance drones. In March, Seoul
confirmed an $817 million military procurement deal to secure
Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles from Northrop Grumman
Corp.
North Korea on Monday launched 500 rounds of artillery fire, 100
of which landed in South Korean waters across the sea border near
Baengnyeong and other front-line islands. In response, South Korea
fired about 300 rounds into North Korean waters.
North Korea doesn't recognize the sea border, which was drawn by
United Nations forces after the 1950-1953 Korean War. In 2010, the
North shelled nearby Yeonpyeong Island in the area, killing four
people.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
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