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Lone nut flies drones into North Korea?

Submitted by soryang on Sat, 01/17/2026 - 2:05pm

단독]30대 남성 “北 공개 무인기, 내가 날렸다” / 채널A / 뉴스A (Source Channel A News, 1.17.26) The drones in September 2025 and January 2026 failed, the November drone flight was "successful."

This is a great post from Rashid, again. I watched the ChannelA News video on youtube. The "civilian post graduate student in his 30s" nominally "Mr. A" claims he made the drone from parts provided by the manufacturer, allegedly a Chinese firm, to collect data on airborne radiation and heavy metals.

The odd thing about this story is that his method resembles South Korean military drone flights into North Korea in the fall of 2024 whose purpose was to provoke some sort of national security crisis by repeated violations of North Korean territorial airspace to facilitate Yoon's attempted coup. Oddly enough there has also been repeated GPS jamming in last few months, attributed to North Korea affecting aviation and maritime navigation in South Korea and the nearby maritime zones. The interview on Channel A news seems odd as well, where the question is not asked as to how and why a graduate student would take it upon himself to violate the law, a North South agreement, as well as the military restrictions governing the airspace in and around the MDL, DMZ, etc. Such violations could potentially provoke military responses from the North jeopardizing the South's national security and many lives. Is it really the work of a lone nut, the nutty professor wannabe, or is there more to it? Those questions aren't even asked by the conservative media reporter in the "exclusive report."

The attached KCNA publication of Kim Yo-jong's (Kim Jong-un's sister) statement is an official reaction to the new repeated drone provocations from the South Korean side. This statement disregards the ROK effort to portray this as a non-military provocation because it was carried out by a "civilian." The South Korean military said it would carry out a full investigation to get to the bottom of this. Kim Yo-jong's official statement is the North Korean English language version in Rashid's post. The print is rather small but I could read it. She's basically saying don't do this again or else. At the end it suggests an in kind response. This reminds me of the 2022 South Korean propaganda balloons launched over the DMZ by a South Korean "defector NGO" which resulted in the December 26, 2022, North Korean multiple drone overflights of South Korea including the sensitive prohibited zone airspace in Yongsan, followed by a South Korean drone incursion into North Korea, etc. *

*See my Dec. 28, 2022 post Screwing up the Tension in Korea and Jan. 4, 2023 post 12.26 Seoul Drone Incursion from North Korea

It's not unreasonable to suspect that this "lone nut" drone incursion into North Korea is an effort by parties unknown to destabilize and discredit President Lee Jae-myung's diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions with North Korea with a view toward resuming dialogue. I infer based upon a recent statement made by General Brunson, that reduction of tensions on the peninsula by say reducing the tempo and frequency of military exercises on the peninsula is not his cup of tea. With respect to the general...

Simone Chun has a relatively recent article on US-South Korea relations, I tried to post here a few days back without success but I'll try again.

Simone Chun republished her recent counterpunch article in FPIF. I'm glad the article is out from the paywall now. Beyond the initial speculation regarding possible US involvement in Yoon's coup attempt, it characterizes the US-ROK military alliance and how it encroaches on South Korean sovereignty. The article also reviews the onerous financial burdens placed on South Korea by the Trump administration. There's a link in the post below. In the article Gen. Brunson's perspective on the alliance is revealed.

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South Korea
North Korea
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Submitted by on the cusp on Sat, 01/17/2026 - 5:04pm

That civilian doesn't come across to me as just an academician doing a harmless study.
But then, I am skeptical of anything coming out of mainstream media.

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Submitted by soryang on Sat, 01/17/2026 - 5:29pm
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@on the cusp

Channel A News is DongA media, just about as mainstream as it gets. I tried to put it in context of the other drone flights, the propaganda balloons, the joint military exercises, the coup, etc. If it looks like Duck, quacks like a duck...you know the thing!

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Submitted by soryang on Tue, 01/20/2026 - 3:45pm
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[Editorial] Why did former staffers in Yoon’s presidential office fly drones into North Korea?

It turns out that two South Korean men who admitted to sending drones to North Korean airspace had both worked in the presidential office during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

Both offenders went to the same university. As students, they started an organization for young conservatives and went on to co-found a firm that manufactures drones. There have been a number of disturbing revelations, including the fact that the two men founded their company the very same month that the Drone Operations Command began operations.

There needs to be a thorough investigation into not only these two individuals’ motives, but also whether they acted on their own volition or were working on behalf of others.

Recently, a man in his 30s claimed that he’d sent a drone into North Korean airspace during a nationally televised interview.

One of the South Korean internet pundits I follow on youtube has linked this "startup drone company" indirectly through these two and the Defense Intelligence service and potentially to the former Chief Deputy National Security Advisor Kim Tae-pyo in Yoon's office. * [편집본] 북한 무인기 김태효의 그림자 나왔다! youtube 01.20.26 시사건건 The connection is not substantiated but doesn't seem that far fetched under the circumstances. The Hankyoreh article is styled as an Editorial. It doesn't go as far as that, just calling for more investigation. Tying this in with the earlier drone provocations, beyond the three described above, and linking this to DIS and the National Security Advisor's office in the Yoon administration would be disturbing to say the least. Incidentally, Kim Tae-pyo and Kim Gon-hee, the former first lady, reportedly each have alibis that dissociate both of them from the martial law attempt by Yoon.

The point here being the possibility of a continuing conspiracy by former South Korean government/intel insiders to sabotage the Lee administration's effort to calm tensions with North Korea and resume dialogue aimed at the normalization. One of the steps here is the resumption of the 9.19.2018 North South military agreement particularly with reference to air operations close to the buffer zones established by Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un at the time. That is not likely to be welcomed by the US defense and intelligence community.

Seoul eyes no-fly zones as first step to reviving 2018 military pact with Pyongyang

The pact, signed in September 2018 by then-President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, included provisions to cease all hostile acts on land, sea and air. The section on the air domain established no-fly zones extending 10 to 40 kilometers north and south along the Military Demarcation Line. However, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration suspended the no-fly zone designation in November 2023 in response to North Korea's launch of a military reconnaissance satellite. Subsequently, the Yoon administration fully suspended the pact in June 2024.

If the no-fly zone is restored, the potential for clashes between fighter jets, reconnaissance aircraft, and drones could decrease, potentially easing tension between the two Koreas.

However, restoring the pact on land would require the withdrawal of recently reactivated guard posts from the Demilitarized Zone. Restoring the pact’s agreements in the maritime sector is directly linked to the Northern Limit Line issue, carrying significant military and political implications. This may be why actions on these domains have been put off for now.

A senior government official stated the timing of the proposal will be “further discussed, as Korea-US joint exercises are scheduled for March, and a Korea-US summit in April.” This indicates that the timing of measures related to airspace, which would have a bearing on air operations at the heart of the ROK-US joint exercises, will be adjusted in consideration of the exercise schedule and North Korea's response.

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