S. Korea denies DPRK's claim on drone provocation, seeks joint probe

South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, on Saturday January 10, denied allegations that South Korean drones violated the airspace of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Lee Jae Myung, President of South Korea, has ordered a "thorough investigation into this matter," according to Yonhap News Agency.

South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek said the accusations made by DPRK were "absolutely untrue," noting that drone shown in photos release by Pyongyang was not a model South Korean military operates. 

Ahn also expressed the possibility of a joint investigation between South Korea and the DPRK into this incident.

The DPRK said earlier on Saturday that a drone operated by South Korea violated DPRK's airspace on January 4, infringing its sovereignty, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). 

The Korean People's Army on January 4 spotted and tracked an air target moving northward over the area of Incheon in South Korea. The drone flew for eight kilometers before it was struck by the DPRK units with special electronic warfare assets, and crash landed near Kaesong Municipality in DPRK, according KCNA report, citing a spokesperson for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army.

The drone was set to conduct photographic surveillance of the DPRK's major objects while flying over multiple places within the country's territory, said the spokesperson.

The video data obtained from the cameras served as clear proof that the drone violated the DPRK territorial airspace for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes, the statement said.

KCNA said the incursion follows another similar incident in September 2025, where a South Korean drone was shot down over Kaesong. 

DPRK has previously made similar allegations accusing South Korea of flying a drone into the DPRK's airspace over Pyongyang in October 2024.

(With inputs from agencies)