Overview
- North Korea says it used electronic warfare to force down a South Korean reconnaissance drone on January 4 and claims it recovered footage showing surveillance of DPRK territory.
- The DPRK also cites a similar alleged intrusion on September 27, 2025, and frames both episodes as repeated provocations by the South.
- South Korea’s defense ministry rejects the claims, stating no drones were operated on the dates named and asserting its forces do not use the type of UAV shown by the North.
- Defense Minister An Gyu-bek called the North’s statements inaccurate, and President Lee Jae-myung ordered a thorough inquiry, including the possibility of a civilian-operated drone and a joint military–police investigation team.
- Pyongyang issued stark warnings and hostile rhetoric, but there has been no independent verification of the incident, leaving the competing accounts unresolved against a backdrop of prior disputes and domestic controversy over past drone operations.