Opposition Inspects Air Defense Sites over 'North Korean Drone Intrusion'... "Parliamentary Inquiry Needed"

On the afternoon of the 5th, Kim Byung-joo, the Democratic Party's secretary of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly, along with opposition party members, visited the air defense base under the Capital Defense Command to inspect the readiness against unmanned aerial vehicles. [Joint Coverage] [Image Source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] The Democratic Party of Korea and the Justice Party visited frontline air defense posts on the 5th to inspect readiness in response to the North Korean drone incident and criticized the government's handling of the situation.

Members of the National Defense Committee from both parties visited the Capital Defense Command and the 1st Air Defense Brigade in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, to assess the situation and received reports on the drone intrusion incident and the current status of air defense training.

Kim Byung-joo, the Democratic Party's secretary of the National Defense Committee, said in a briefing after the visit, "We confirmed here that several statements made by President Yoon Seok-yeol are not true," adding, "President Yoon claimed that no drone response training has been conducted since 2017, but the air defense units stationed here conduct training twice daily. This is an insult to the soldiers."

He continued, "It is a blatant lie to say that no measures have been taken to strengthen weaponry since 2017," and stated, "We confirmed that locally developed short-range air defense radars have been operationalized and deployed to the Capital Defense Command's air defense brigade. All of this was accomplished during the Moon Jae-in administration."

He also added, "Although the 1st Corps in the frontline area detected the drone, the detection information was not properly relayed to the Capital Defense Command," pointing out "there is a problem with the operational system."

Regarding the military authorities' delayed admission that the North Korean drone flew over the airspace near the Yongsan Presidential Office, Kim said, "It is like a spy wandering over the fence on the ground, but in this case, it penetrated by flying over the airspace fence," calling it "a failure of security operations and crisis management."

On the afternoon of the 5th, Kim Byung-ju, the Democratic Party's secretary of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly, along with opposition party members, visited the air defense base under the Capital Defense Command. After receiving an explanation about the short-range surface-to-air guided missile 'Cheonma' from officials, they held a briefing. [Joint Coverage] [Image Source=Yonhap News]

Fellow party member Seol Hoon also claimed, "The Minister of National Defense falsely reported to the National Defense Committee that the drone did not violate the no-fly zone," and insisted, "The minister should be held accountable and forced to resign." Kim said that during the visit, when he inquired about the specifications of the North Korean drone, he was told it was about 2 to 3 meters in size.

However, he noted there were limitations in confirming the (work) relationship between the Presidential Security Service and its subordinate units at the time, adding, "I felt the need for a parliamentary hearing and a state audit. I plan to discuss with party leadership whether to demand this."

Song Ok-joo, also from the same party, said, "It is necessary to thoroughly investigate the security breach at the National Defense Committee level," and added, "It is not enough for the staff to apologize; President Yoon, as the commander-in-chief, must apologize."

Justice Party lawmaker Bae Jin-kyo stated, "We confirmed that there are aspects of the system that need improvement, and there are also areas to supplement regarding weapon system responses. We will work closely with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Ministry of National Defense and support this in the National Assembly."

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