A unification ministry official says the flying of drones into North Korea by civilians can be prevented if the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement is restored.

The ministry’s director general of unification planning, Hwang Seung-hee, made the statement Thursday during a policy forum in Seoul and cited President Lee Jae Myung’s earlier remark that the sending of drones to the North by civilians is tantamount to starting a war. 

Hwang said he believes that if the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement is restored preemptively or in phases, such drone activity could be repressed.

The inter-Korean deal, signed during the Moon Jae-in administration in 2018, bans firearms training and field exercises within the inter-Korean “buffer zone” on land, at sea and in the air; designates a no-fly zone; and stipulates disarmament of the Joint Security Area.

The Yoon Suk Yeol government, however, suspended the no-fly zone provision after the North launched a reconnaissance satellite in November 2023. 

In response, Pyongyang declared it was terminating the agreement.

Former President Yoon suspended the entire deal in June 2024 in the wake of the North’s trash balloon launches and GPS-jamming attacks targeting the South.