The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday accused South Korea of sending drones over Pyongyang, the official Korean Central
News Agency (KCNA) reported, amid signs of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The DPRK Foreign Ministry on Friday evening issued a statement titled "The trigger for defending sovereignty and security will be pulled up without hesitation," saying that South Korea conducted a midnight drone infiltration on Thursday and dropped a huge number of anti-DPRK smear leaflets over the central part of Pyongyang, after similar drone infiltrations on Oct. 3 and 9, according to the KCNA.
The DPRK condemned the incursions into the DPRK airspace by the South Korean drones that "can be regarded as military attack means," calling the incidents "a grave political and military provocation" and "an open infringement on the sacred national sovereignty and security of the DPRK and a wanton violation of the international law and a grave military attack, for which the ROK must pay a dear price," the foreign ministry was quoted as saying in the statement. "ROK" is the acronym of the Republic of Korea.
The DPRK military is making preparations "to cope with different occasions of the developing situation," and "all the offensive means of the DPRK, to be involved in getting the military structures near the southern border and in the ROK collapsed, will get ready to carry out their activities promptly at any moment," added the statement.
The statement urged South Korea to "immediately stop such irresponsible and dangerous provocation that may cause an armed conflict and lead to a war between the two sides," warning that "the DPRK will launch an action immediately without any warning" if such a drone incursion occurs again.
The DPRK statement came just two days after the General Staff of the Korean People's Army announced that the DPRK will completely cut off roads and railways linked to South Korea beginning Wednesday.
South Korea's military on Friday denied the accusation, saying that "it did not send drones into North Korea."
Yonhap news agency quoted South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) as saying that the South Korean military sent no unmanned drone over the DPRK.
