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TOKYO: North Korea has published a detailed account of two drone intrusions by South Korea, calling the latest “a serious and provocative infringement of our sovereignty,” and launching an angry tirade against its southern neighbor.

A spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army published a statement that said: “The entity known as South Korea remains our most hostile enemy and if it challenges us, it must be destroyed.”

It went on to draw parallels with Ukraine, stating: “We strongly condemn the rogue elements’ reckless violations and blatant provocations against our sovereignty. They are a stereotypical group of people who resemble the madmen in Kiev. We are issuing a stern warning to the South Korean authorities, who have once again revealed their confrontational malice. The madness of the Korean warmongers is unacceptable, and they will surely pay the price.”

The spokesman said the North captured a South Korean drone that was launched from Incheon on January 4 and which penetrated 8 kilometers inside North Korea. He added that the drone was targeted by the North’s “specialized electronic warfare assets,” which forced it to crash 1,200 meters from Hill 101.5 in Kaesong. The downed drone was equipped with surveillance equipment.

The North provided a detailed account of the drone’s flight path and reported that it had flown a total distance of 156 kilometers at an altitude of 100-300 meters and at a speed of 50 kph for three hours and 10 minutes.

The statement said the drone’s recording device contained 6 minutes 59 seconds and 6 minutes 58 seconds of footage of “important targets” taken by two cameras.

It said that a similar incursion occurred in September last year. This was also a fixed-wing drone and was downed “by electronic means of special military technology from our 2nd Corps and crashed into a rice field.” 

The North said it had taken off from Paju City and flew 167 kilometers at an altitude of 300 meters for 3 hours and 20 minutes, photographing important targets that included Panmunjom, the former Kaesong Industrial Zone, and military outposts along the border.