South Korea confirms drone discovered in June was from North Korea

A small aircraft what South Korea's Military said is believed to be a North Korean drone, is seen at a mountain near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Inje, South Korea in this handout picture provided by the Defence Ministry and released by News1 on June... REUTERS

By Christine Kim | SEOUL

South Korea's military said on Wednesday a drone found earlier this month on a mountain near the Demilitarised Zone border was confirmed to have been from North Korea and described it as a "grave provocation" that violated the Korean War truce.

The drone crashed while returning to the North and was found equipped with a camera and aerial photographs of a U.S. anti-missile defence system site in a southern region of South Korea, South Korean officials told a briefing.

The origin and flight path of the drone were confirmed in an analysis of the onboard computer and camera, South Korea's defense ministry and military officials told the briefing.

"The intrusion of our airspace by the North Korean drone and photographing of a military base is a violation of the Armistice and an agreement on non-aggression and is an act of grave provocation," Jeon Dong-jin, an official of the Joint Chiefs of Staff office said.

"We strongly condemn the North's continued attempts at penetrating the South with drones and once again, demand all acts of provocation are halted," he said during the briefing.

"If North Korea continues to engage in acts of provocation against the South, our military will forcefully retaliate and we warn all responsibility for events occurring going forth is with the North."

The drone had been launched in the Kumgang-gun area in Kangwon Province on May 2, the defense ministry's spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told the briefing.

"The aircraft proceeded to fly for a total of five hours and thirty minutes and its assessed flight path matched the evidence seen in the photographs taken by it," said Moon.

Moon added the drone had been found with roughly 550 photographs and the military assessed it aimed to collect information on South Korean military bases and the anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system located in Seongju, South Korea, 217 km (135 miles) south of Seoul.

The drone had turned around in Seongju after taking photographs, Moon said, and later crashed in Inje-gun in the South's Gangwon Province where it was found by South Korean military on June 9.

The U.S. THAAD anti-defense system has been deployed in South Korea to counter a growing missile threat from North Korea. North Korean drones are known to have flown over South Korea several times.

The defense ministry said on Wednesday this latest drone largely matched another North Korean drone discovered in 2014 on Baengnyeong Island, near the inter-Korean maritime border.

(Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Michael Perry)