A graduate student in his 30s, a person surnamed Oh, was arrested on suspicion of sending drones to North Korea and stoking inter-Korean military tensions.
On the 26th, Seoul Central District Court Director General judge for warrants Boo Dong-sik held a pretrial detention hearing for the suspect (substantive warrant review) for Mr. Oh and issued an arrest warrant.
Vice Director General judge said the warrant was issued because "there is a concern about destroying evidence and fleeing."
Mr. Oh is suspected of violating the Criminal Act's general pro-enemy provision, the Aviation Safety Act, and the Military Base Act. The idea is that by sending drones to North Korea, inter-Korean tensions escalated and put the public at risk.
A joint military-police investigative task force (TF) believes Mr. Oh flew drones to North Korea four times from September last year to January this year to gain economic benefits through a drone business.
There are seven suspects in this case, including Mr. Oh, a service member with the Defense Intelligence Command, and an employee of the National Intelligence Service. Mr. Oh is the first to be detained.
It became known that Mr. Oh flew drones after North Korea claimed that South Korea had infiltrated drones from its territory. Afterward, President Lee Jae-myung ordered the military and police to conduct a strict joint investigation.