N Korean Drone Using 1960s Tech Captured 10 Photographs of THAAD Missile System

A drone likely belonging to North Korea shot 10 photographs of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system deployed in South Korea.

An analysis of the drone showed that it had technology from the 1960s and hence was not capable of transmitting the photos to its handlers, a report in Korea Herald said.

The  drone was discovered in South Korea last week was found to have taken pictures of a US advanced anti-missile system deployed in South Korea, the South’s military said Tuesday, confirming the suspicion that the drone was on a spy mission, The Korea Herald reported.

Discovered on a mountain near the inter-Korean border Friday, the drone was found to carry more than 10 photos of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery stationed in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, according to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). It is not clear how the drone got there, whether it was shot down or it crashed on its own.

“In an analysis of the camera memory, we found pictures of Seongju. It also took pictures of the northern region of Seongju, where THAAD is deployed,” a JCS official was quoted as saying by Korea Herald.

Inside the drone, hundreds of photos of South Korea were found, most of them pictures of forests and villages, the JCS said. About 4 percent of them were of the Seongju region, it added.

Equipped with a digital camera the device looked bigger than the previous drone, the JCS said. It also employed a twin-engine, not a single-engine used by the previous model found on Baeknyeong Island near the border, the report said.