▲ This file photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 19, 2024, shows the remains of a drone that Pyongyang claims was sent by the South Korean military. The drone is being described by Pyongyang as the same type that was publicly displayed on Armed Forces Day in Seoul earlier this month. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

defense ministry-drones

Defense ministry to tentatively halt budget execution of drone command over underperforming drones

SEOUL, March 3 (Yonhap) -- The defense ministry said Tuesday it will tentatively suspend the Drone Operations Command's budget execution for this year over its move to further introduce drones dispatched to North Korea under former President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2024, citing their poor performance.

The move comes as the command has allocated 1.34 billion won (US$915,500) to introduce 24 additional small reconnaissance drones for this year, despite concerns over problems in their capabilities, according to a report submitted to Rep. Boo Seung-chan of the ruling Democratic Party.

The model, manufactured by the state-run Agency for Defense Development in 2023, is believed to have the risk of being easily detected by the enemy's radar and generated high noise during flight.

The drone command claimed that the model had met the standards required for launch at the time, noting the budget for the project was prearranged based on a mid-term defense blueprint.

Speculation had arisen that the command deliberately used the underperforming drones in operations in October 2024 in a bid to prod North Korea to easily detect them and provoke Pyongyang so that Yoon could use the North's provocation as a pretext for his Dec. 3 martial law declaration that year.

Following the revelations, the defense ministry said it will temporarily halt executing the relevant budget for the command.

"We plan to review the necessity of the project and reallocate the assigned budget to operational units carrying out the missions, once the command's mission and function undergoes adjustment," Chung Binna, the ministry's spokesperson, said during a press briefing.

A special advisory committee tasked with reforming the military called on the defense ministry to abolish the drone operations command last month, in light of its overlapping features with respective functions within military branches.

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