"What on earth have you been doing?"... Yoon scolds Defense Minister over North Korean drone response

Initial Response Ordered for Drone Airspace Intrusion... Yoon "Shoot Down if Necessary"
Drone Unit Establishment at Cabinet Meeting Also in This Context
Presidential Office Attributes North Korean Drone Airspace Intrusion to 'Inducing Internal Conflict'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] It was reported on the 28th that President Yoon Seok-yeol strongly reprimanded Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop regarding the South Korean military's failure to shoot down a North Korean drone.

A senior official from the Presidential Office told reporters that morning, "An emergency security situation review meeting was held early in the morning on the 27th, chaired by the Director of the National Security Office."

During the meeting, the intrusion of the North Korean drone into South Korean airspace, the military's failure to shoot it down, and follow-up measures were intensively discussed. National Security Office Director Kim Sung-han and Minister Lee met President Yoon just before the Cabinet meeting to give a verbal report on the drone response in the form of an interim briefing.

At this meeting, President Yoon reportedly expressed anger, saying, "You didn't even conduct proper training; does that mean you did nothing at all?" and scolded the military's overall response.

President Yoon also reportedly questioned, "How could there be no place prepared to respond to a North Korean drone attack? Similar incidents have happened several times in the past; what have you been doing until now?"

A key official from the Presidential Office said, "There were more frustrating parts reported than understandable ones," adding, "The President has unlimited trust in the military, but he strongly reprimanded Minister Lee for not meeting the expected level based on that trust, and for possible lax discipline and severely insufficient training."

The security situation review meeting continued throughout the morning, and the attendees, including Minister Lee, did not attend the Cabinet meeting but instead worked on strengthening readiness measures.

The senior official also said that President Yoon gave instructions for the military to take appropriate measures early on when the drone first intruded into airspace. The official stated, "When the first drone came down, President Yoon said we also have drones and ordered immediate reciprocal measures against North Korea."

He added that there were instructions to deploy two or three of South Korea's own drones and to shoot them down if necessary. The official said, "There were various other instructions afterward, but those are classified at this time."

Through this process, President Yoon urgently revised his opening remarks for the Cabinet meeting, resulting in the statement, "We will expedite the establishment of a drone unit and enhance surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities by making drones stealth and state-of-the-art," according to the Presidential Office.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Office characterized the North Korean drone's airspace intrusion as a "provocation aimed at inducing inter-Korean conflict." It is understood as North Korea's southern unification front strategy to incite internal conflict in South Korea by exploiting vulnerabilities revealed through military provocations.

Regarding this, a senior official said, "Conversely, it became an opportunity for North Korea to help strengthen South Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation," emphasizing, "From South Korea's perspective, the effective response to North Korean provocations lies in South Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.