Pyongyang, North Korea - North Korea's military has accused South Korea of violating its sovereignty, saying a surveillance drone entered its airspace on January 4, state news agency KCNA reported on Saturday.

A spokesman for the Korean People's Army cited by KCNA said the military shot down the drone, which had reportedly filmed key installations. The news agency published photos of the destroyed drone and its alleged surveillance footage, saying it had been launched from the South Korean city of Incheon.

The military also accused South Korea of a similar incident in September last year, saying another drone had been shot down after entering North Korean airspace.

South Korea's Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back denied any military involvement in either case, saying the drones shown in the newly released photos were not models used by the South Korean military. He described North Korea's claims as "absolutely not true," according to South Korea's state news agency Yonhap.

North Korea's military spokesman described South Korea as "the enemy most hostile towards us that can never be changed in nature" and warned that Seoul's "military warmongers" would pay a "dear price" for their "unpardonable hysteria."

North Korea previously alleged in October 2024 that a South Korean drone had reached the capital Pyongyang. Ex-South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol was reportedly behind the operation, which investigators say aimed to provoke a military response.

Yoon, who declared martial law in December 2024 and is now in detention, denies the accusations.

The two Koreas remain technically at war, as the 1950–1953 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty.