Game of Drones: What’s the latest dispute between North Korea and South Korea?

North Korea and South Korea are at each other’s throats again.

North Korea has accused South Korea of sending drones over its capital Pyongyang.

North Korea has responded by placing units on the border and seemingly preparing to blow up roads that link the two nations.

But what happened exactly?

Let’s take a closer look:

What happened?

As per CNN, North Korea claimed that South Korea had  dropped ‘anti-North Korea’ leaflets over its capital during the past week.

North Korea said that “the most hostile, malicious and rogue state, has carried out a severe political and military provocation of infiltrating drones into Pyongyang.”

As per the website, the state-run KCNA put out images of what it said was a drone and pictures of leaflets offering “a comparison of the food you can buy,” and “North Korea’s economic situation falling into hell.”

According to The Guardian , the purported image of one of the drones resembles a ‘winged, white object.’

The newspaper quoted KCNA news agency as saying that the leaflets contained “inflammatory rumours and rubbish” and that the foreign ministry claimed it “could be considered a military attack”.

North Korea has warned South Korea of “retaliation” and that it would “face a horrible situation if it continues provocations.”

North Korean state news agency KCNA quoted the defence ministry’s spokesperson as saying Pyongyang sees a high likelihood of more drones flying over the capital, with its military told to prepare for all scenarios including conflict.

North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong un, on Saturday warned Seoul of a “horrible disaster” if South Korean drones are found flying over Pyongyang.

She also criticised the South Korean military over its response to the North’s claim that South Korean drones entered the sky of the capital city in a statement carried by state media KCNA.

The fact that the means which carried the leaflets is the very drones is the core of the seriousness of the recent incident," Kim was quoted as saying, referring to anti-North Korea leaflets.

Kim said the blame lies with the South Korean military if it failed to identify drones sent by a non-governmental organisation crossing the border.

North Korea’s defence ministry said the drones, which it said were detected over Pyongyang on three days earlier this month, were the kind that required a special launcher or a runway and it was impossible a civilian group could launch them.

South Korea, meanwhile, asked North Korea “not to act rashly.”

It added that “all responsibility for the recent series of developments lies with North Korea” – a reference to the trash-laden balloons Pyongyang has been sending to South Korea.

The South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said they “cannot confirm whether the North Korean allegations are true or not,” as per The Guardian.

South Korea’s military has said its refusal to answer questions on the drones is because addressing what the North has alleged would be to get drawn into a tactic by Pyongyang to fabricate excuses for provocations.

South Korea has sought to boost its anti-drone defences since 2022, Lee said, when five North Korean drones entered its airspace and flew over the capital Seoul for several hours.

Lee Kyoung-haing, an expert in military drone operations at Jungwon University, said civilians would have no trouble getting drones with ranges of 300 kiliometres, the round trip from the South to Pyongyang, with light payloads such as leaflets.

Game of drones

This isn’t the first time the two sides have sent drones to each other’s territory.

As per CNN, activists and defectors in South Korea have for years been sending balloons to North Korea full of material critical of Kim Jong-Un.

They have also sent USB sticks with K-pop and TV shows – all of which are outlawed in North Korea.

South Korea in 2020 passed a law banning the sending of anti-North Korean propaganda, however, the law was overturned after a court deemed it a restriction on free speech.

North Korea, meanwhile, has sent over 1,000 balloons to the South since May.

These balloons are filled with trash, worms and waste.

In 2022, North Korea sent five drones into South Korea – four of which went around Ganghwa island and one that invaded Seoul’s airspace.

As per The Guardian, South Korea scrambled its jets and the military even fired on the drones from the helicopter.

However, it was unable to down any of the drones.

In the aftermath of the incident, South Korea has increased the pace of developing its spy drones.

What now?

North Korea’s artillery units near the border with South Korea have been ordered to be ready to fire amid frictions over drones that Pyongyang says are being flown over the frontier, state media cited the government as saying on Sunday.

North Korea is getting ready to blow up roads that cross the heavily militarised border with South Korea, Seoul said on Monday.

North Korean troops were working under camouflage on the roads on its side of the border near the west and east coasts that are likely preparations to blow up the roads, possibly as early as on Monday, South Korea’s military spokesman said.

The two Koreas are still technically at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The cross-border links are remnants of periods of rapprochement between the countries including a 2018 summit between the leaders when they declared there would be no more war and a new era of peace had opened.

North Korea has reintroduced heavy weapons into the Demilitarized Zone border buffer and restored guard posts, after the two sides declared a 2018 military agreement aimed at easing tensions no longer valid.

‘Fully ready to open fire’

North Korea said Sunday its front-line army units are ready to launch strikes on South Korea.

In a statement carried by state media Sunday, the North’s Defense Ministry said that the military had issued a preliminary operation order to artillery and other army units near the border with South Korea to “get fully ready to open fire.”

An unidentified ministry spokesperson said the North Korea’s military ordered relevant units to fully prepare for situations like launching immediate strikes on unspecified enemy targets when South Korea infiltrates drones across the border again, possibly triggering fighting on the Korean Peninsula, according to the statement.

The spokesperson said that “grave touch-and-go military tensions are prevailing on the Korean Peninsula” because of the South Korean drone launches. In a separate statement later Sunday, the spokesperson said that the entire South Korean territory “might turn into piles of ashes” following the North’s powerful attack.

North Korea often issues such fiery, blistering rhetoric in times of elevated animosities with South Korea and the United States.

Last week, North Korea’s Army said it would completely cut roads and railways connected to South Korea and fortify the areas on its side of the border, state media KCNA reported.

Ties between the two Koreas remain tense since a US-led diplomacy on ending North Korea’s nuclear program fell apart in 2019. North Korea has since pushed hard to expand its nuclear arsenal and repeatedly threatened to attack South Korea and the U.S. with its nuclear weapons. But experts say it’s unlikely for North Korea to launch a full-blown attack because its military is outpaced by the combined US and South Korean forces.

Observers predicted North Korea would escalate tensions ahead of next month’s US presidential election to boost its leverage in future diplomacy with the Americans.

North Korea is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of the authoritarian government of Kim Jong Un and his family’s dynastic rule.

With inputs from agencies