N Korea accuses South of using story about spy drones for politics, denies links with it
11 May 2014, 10:54 -- North Korea is not linked with unmanned aerial systems found in South Korea, a group of experts of the North Korean state defence committee stated. North Korea also accused South Korea Sunday of fabricating a story about crashed spy drones in order to divert attention from its ferry disaster.
The drones were recovered in three different locations in the South between March 24 and April 6.
The South's defence ministry last week called them 'a clear military provocation' and said it had 'smoking gun' proof that they had all been flown from North Korea.
North Korean defence committee noted that the drone affair had been opened in Seoul 'to deteriorate relations with compatriots in the North,' news agency KCNA reported.
The country's defence committee noted that South Korean authorities 'had undertaken one more act of propagandistic farce' on May 8 stating that three drones found in South Korea in March and April had been launched from North Korea. Meanwhile, the South Korean Defence Ministry has cited technical expertise results.
In this regard, North Korea demanded repeatedly South Korea should 'stop backstage manipulations and hold a joint investigation of all circumstances of three unmanned aerial systems found in the South.' 'North Korea is not linked with these drones,' the statement runs.
On May 8, Seoul stated the detailed examination of electronic equipment of the drones had found that they acted according to the software programme which 'envisaged a surveillance flight over the most important military facilities in South Korea and return of unmanned aerial systems to North Korea.'
On April 11, the South Korean Defence Ministry has made public the same intermediate results of a survey conducted jointly with US specialists.
N Korea denies drones were sent to South
North Korea on Friday denied accusations from Seoul that it sent small, unarmed drone aircraft over the border recently. Three of the drones crashed and were analyzed by the South, which said they came from North Korea.
Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North Korean ruling party, said the claim that the drones came from the North was part of a 'heinous conspiratorial farce' aimed at making the North look like it is engaging in belligerent behavior.
It added that Seoul is trying to provoke a war.
South Korean officials say they suspect the three drones that crashed recently near the border with the North were flown on possible surveillance missions.
The Koreas have been divided since the 1950-53 Korean War.
North Korea has recently been touting its drone program, a relatively new addition to its arsenal.
It has prominently displayed large drone-like aircraft in military parades.
According to the North's state-run media, leader Kim Jong Un watched a drone attack drill on a simulated South Korean target last year.
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