A joint team of South Korean police and military investigators conducted raids on Wednesday at the residences and workplaces of three civilian suspects allegedly involved in flying drones into North Korea. The search and seizure warrants were executed at 8 a.m. against the individuals accused of breaching the Aviation Safety Act, as confirmed by the National Police Agency’s National Office of Investigation. The investigation was initiated following North Korea’s claims that South Korea trespassed its sovereignty through drone activities in September and January, although South Korea’s military has denied any association with the drone models in question.
The authorities have refrained from disclosing the identities of the suspects but assured a comprehensive inquiry while exploring all potential leads. The recent raid follows revelations made by a graduate student named Oh, who confessed to piloting the drones in a media interview aired last week. Oh and another individual, both former presidential office employees under ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol, were linked to a drone manufacturing startup established with university backing in 2024. Additionally, Oh operated two North Korea-focused online news platforms, which were shut down amid allegations of being fronts for a military intelligence agent’s covert operations.
During the raid, investigators searched the startup located within the university premises but did not visit the news outlets’ offices. The suspects reportedly assembled the drone at their university’s engineering lab, with investigators observed transferring an undisclosed object, concealed in white cloth and believed to be from the lab, to their vehicle. North Korea had previously accused South Korea of violating its sovereignty through drone intrusions, prompting demands for acknowledgment and apologies from Seoul, which the South Korean military refuted by clarifying that the drones in question were not under military control.
