President Yoon Suk Yeol's office on Tuesday denied the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's claims that it was the National Security Office that ordered the military to fly drones over Pyongyang in October.
Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accused the South Korean military of sending unmanned drones to drop propaganda leaflets on its capital. Seoul has denied her accusations.
The NSO reiterated its stance Tuesday and vowed to "take all available measures, including legal actions," against Democratic Party lawmaker Rep. Boo Seung-chan for spreading false information. Earlier in the day, Boo claimed that the office allegedly had ordered South Korea's military forces to provoke North Korea.
"It is clearly a false statement that the NSO had plotted to provoke North Korea," the office said in a note to reporters. "We hereby clarify that such thing as a scheme to provoke North Korea does not exist."
The office added the main opposition party should stop spreading misinformation based on unproven tips it receives.
This came as the main opposition party's internal team to investigate President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration argued Tuesday that the NSO had directly ordered the military drone operations command to send an unmanned drone to Pyongyang.
The party also claimed that the drone infiltration scheme had been in the works since June this year, as part of a tit-for-tat move to counter North Korea's provocation by releasing trash balloons into South Korea.
Rep. Boo of the opposition party called for a swift probe into not only the National Security Office but also South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Ground Operations Command and the military intelligence unit because they were also allegedly involved in the plot.
Earlier in December, Rep. Lee Ki-heon of the main opposition party alleged that former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun instructed the Joint Chiefs of Staff to target launch sites for North Korean propaganda balloons. The move, Lee claimed, was intended to provoke a skirmish with North Korea, potentially providing justification for Yoon's Dec. 3 martial law declaration. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have denied these allegations.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
