Contained Images Of U.S. Missile Site

A suspected North Korean drone was discovered crashed in a wooded area in South Korea near the border last Friday, and it held several images of U.S. missile sites.

The Associated Press reports that the find was confirmed by a South Korean Defense Ministry official who requested anonymity because of department rules.

Among the hundreds of images recovered from the drone's Sony-made built-in camera were 10 showing U.S. missile launcher and radar installations that had been installed in the town of Seongju earlier this year. Most of the rest showed residential and agricultural areas in the southern part of the country.

The aircraft apparently ran out of fuel on its return to North Korea, according to the report. It was not known if it was able to transmit the images of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system back to North Korea before it went down.

North Korea has used drones for surveillance since at least 2014, when several other unmanned aircraft thought to belong to that country were found in South Korea. Those aircraft likely conducted reconnaissance missions, South Korean officials said, and they were also equipped with Japanese cameras but were unable to transmit photos in real time.

FMI: www.mnd.go.kr/mbshome/mbs/mnd_eng/