3일 국방부가 공개한 지난달 24일 경기도 파주에 추락한 북한제 추정 무인항공기 엔진 배터리 앞뒤에 표기된 글자. '사용중지날자'와 '기용날자' 등의 내용이 한글과 한자로 적혀 있다. '날자'는 날짜를 뜻하는 북한말이다. (연합)
북한의 소형 정찰 무인기 두 대가 지난 달 파주와 백령도에 추락한 이후, 속수무책 한국군에 대한 비난이 일고 있다. 북한이 1990년도부터 개발에 신경을 쓰고, 수 차례 해외로부터 무인기를 구매한 정황들이 포착되었음에도 불구, 아직도 속수무책인 군에 대한 비난의 목소리가 증가하고 있는 것이다. 특히 북한의 이른바 비대칭 군사위협이 증대되고 있는 상황에서, 철저한 준비가 부족했다는 지적이다.
24일 파주에서 추락한 무인기는 심지어 청와대 상공을 날며 사진 촬영한 사실이 밝혀지면서 국민들의 안보 불안을 증폭시켰다. 청와대 경호실 또한 청와대 주변 보안을 강화한 것으로 알려졌다.
국방부는 이번에 발견된 무인기가 “초보적 수준의 정찰기”라고 강조하고 있고, 청와대 촬영을 한 것에 대해서도 언론에 설명을 조속히 하지 않은 것과 관련, 이번 무인기 사건을 축소하려는 의도가 있는게 아니냐는 지적도 있다.
국방부는 현재 군이 운용중인 레이더는 북한의 AN-2기나 헬기와 같은 “정상적인” 비행물체를 탐지하게 되어있고, 저고도의 작은 비행물체는 사실상 포착하기 어렵다고 설명했다. 무인기가 발견된 이후, 정부는 저고도 레이더 조기 도입, 무인기 요격 시스템 개발 등 관련 대책마련에 고심하고 있다.
(코리아 헤럴드 송상호 기자)
<관련 영문 기사>
Military under fire for ill-preparedness against drones
Criticism is mounting over the South Korean military’s ill-preparedness against North Korea’s drone-based military activities after a drone was found to have flown over the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae and filmed its facilities.
The military authorities found two suspicious drones, one in Paju close to the Demilitarized Zone and the other on the border island of Baenyeongdo, last Monday and this Monday, respectively. Seoul has tentatively concluded that the two were from the North.
Local media revealed one photo, taken by the drone found in Paju, which showed the presidential compound and nearby Gyeongbokgung Palace. The photo indicated that the drone flew over Cheong Wa Dae at an altitude of about 1 kilometer.
The presidential office has strengthened security amid rising concerns over what critics call a “porous” air defense.
Seoul’s Defense Ministry said that the drone that crashed in Paju was found to have taken 193 photos during its flight over northern Gyeonggi Province and parts of Seoul. But the ministry said those photos were not transmitted to the communist state.
“There was a transmitter in the drone. It was not for transmitting images to the North, but for receiving GPS signals. Thus, the drone was not capable of sending the photos it took here,” said ministry spokesperson Kim Min-seok.
The drone found on Baengnyeongdo apparently took off from Onchon Airport in North Korea’s Hwanghae Province, a senior government official said, declining to be named. The official also said that marine troops on the island fired some 300 shells with its Vulcan cannons, but could not destroy the drone as it flew at a higher altitude.
The drone flew at an altitude of 1.4 km at a speed of 100-120 km per hour in a “zigzag pattern” over the border islands of Socheongdo and Daecheongdo, and then crashed on Baengnyeongdo due to a fuel shortage, the official explained.
The drone also carried a digital camera and took photos of military facilities on those islands, but no photos were transmitted to the North.
The ministry argued that the North Korean drones were “small, entry-level” surveillance aircraft and did not pose any serious military threat. But concerns have persisted that drones containing bombs or chemical and biological weapons could cause a catastrophe in the country.
Some denounced the South Korean military for not responding enough when it was aware that the North began developing military drones in the early 1990s and imported some from foreign countries.
Seoul officials believe that Pyongyang imported Chinese-made D-4 drones and modified them into “Banghyon” drones to fit Korean terrain features, and deployed them to frontline units.
The North is also known to have developed and deployed unmanned aircraft for strike missions. Observers believe it imported U.S.-made MQM-107D Streakers from 2010-2011 from a Middle Eastern nation, most likely Syria.
To ease the public criticism and security worries, Seoul is seeking to introduce more advanced radar capable of detecting objects flying at low altitudes, and develop a jamming system to disrupt drone operations and a system to intercept unmanned aircraft.
By Song Sang-ho(
sshluck@heraldcorp.com)
