“The missile is seen to pose the greatest threat to South Korea and Japan and the 80,000 U.S. troops positioned in the two nations.”
North Korea’s military has 300 to 400 attack drones capable of carrying biological and chemical weapons that could reach the South Korean capital of Seoul within one hour, according to a high-level defector from the isolated regime ruling Pyongyang.
The claim from a 42-year-old former third secretary who fled Kim Jong-un’s regime in 2015 coincides with heightened international concern over a different threat from North Korea: mobile, medium- to long-range missiles that Pyongyang has tested with increasing frequency.
After successfully launching one of the solid-fuel missiles Sunday, North Korean leaders said they are ready to begin deploying and mass-producing the Pukgukson-2 projectiles, which Pyongyang says are capable of reaching major U.S. military bases in Japan.
The Sunday launch was the latest of more than 70 North Korean missile tests since 2009, resulting in a U.S. and regional focus on countering the ballistic missiles.
An equally urgent drone threat may be emanating from Pyongyang, according to an interview with an individual using the alias Jin-myeong Han that the Sekai Nippo newspaper in Japan published last week.
North Korea has been running a clandestine program since the late 1990s that includes preparations to mount biological and chemical weapons on drones for aerial attacks, according to Mr. Han, whom Sekai Nippo described as a former third secretary once stationed in Vietnam.
The missile is seen to pose the greatest threat to South Korea and Japan and the 80,000 U.S. troops positioned in the two nations.
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South Korea fires warning shots at flying object from North
South Korean troops fired warning shots at an “unidentified object” flying across the heavily fortified border from North Korea Tuesday afternoon, the South’s military announced.
The military detected the object traversing the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) southward in the Chorwon area in the eastern province of Gangwon at around 4 p.m., according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
It added the South’s military fired warning shots along with dispatching a warning broadcast.
A defense source said the military fired more than 90 K-3 machine gun rounds, adding it may have been a drone.
The South’s military is analyzing the object and its route and has beefed up its air defense posture, said the JCS.
The incident added to already-high tensions between the Koreas following the North’s continued ballistic missile launches.
In January last year, a North Korean drone flew over the MDL into the western section of the demilitarized zone. The South opened machine gun fire on it.
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