UN says North, South Korea violated armistice

The US-led UNC said on Thursday that both North and South Korea violated the armistice that governs their shared border by sending drones into each other's airspace in December, sending North Korean drones into South Korea's military to scramble fighter jets and helicopters as well as send surveillance aircraft into the North to photograph their military installations.

The UN command, which has overseen the Demilitarized Zone DMZ between the two Koreas since an armistice ended fighting in the Korean War in the 1950 to 1953 Korean War, conducted a special investigation of the airspace incursions to determine whether there were any violations of the armistice.

The US military said that the incursions by both sides constituted violations, but the South's efforts to shoot down drones in its airspace did not violate the armistice, the command said in a statement.

The United Nations Command reaffirms that adherence to the terms of armistice is essential for mitigating the risk of both accidental and deliberate incidents through prevention of escalation, and preserving a cessation of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula, the statement said.