S.Korea's Lee calls for improved drone detection to avoid provoking N.Korea

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Tuesday that there appeared to be a loophole in his country's monitoring system to detect drones operated by civilians flying into North Korea, warning that such incidents risked inflaming tensions.



North Korea said earlier this month that a drone from South Korea was flown into its airspace recently, showing photographs of debris and aerial pictures of buildings that it alleged the drone had taken.



A South Korean task force investigating the incident has called in a civilian suspect for questioning, police said.



"It should not happen for a civilian to send a drone to North Korea for an illegal purpose," Lee told a televised cabinet meeting. "How did we fail to check that a drone had been flown to the North?"



Lee said such action was "akin to starting a war" and created unnecessary tension with North Korea that could have a negative impact on the South Korean economy. He called for a thorough investigation and to ensure it never happened again.



Lee said that while a probe was ongoing if a South Korean citizen was found to have flown the drone they could be criminally charged for provoking Pyongyang.