Summary of inter-Korean news this week

NK weekly-inter-Korean news

Summary of inter-Korean news this week

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.

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S. Korea begins production of spy drones for N. Korea surveillance

SEOUL -- South Korea has begun production of medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAVs) to enhance the military's surveillance over North Korea, the state-run procurement agency said Thursday.

In December, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration signed a 471.7 billion-won (US$353.6 million) deal with Korean Air, South Korea's biggest airline, along with two defense firms, LIG Nex1 and Hanwha Systems, to manufacture advanced spy drones by 2028.

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(LEAD) Defense chief warns N. Korea will face end of regime if it wages war

SEOUL -- South Korea's defense chief said Wednesday that North Korea will face the end of its regime if it wages war, hours after the North fired several rounds of cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea in its latest series of weapons tests.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik issued the warning during his visit to the 17th Fighter Wing at Cheongju Air Base, 112 kilometers south of Seoul, which operates 40 F-35 stealth fighter jets.

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S. Korea says N. Korean leader Kim's hostile rhetoric will not affect gov't blueprint on unification

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's recent hostile rhetoric toward Seoul will not affect South Korea's decadeslong blueprint for unification, an official said Tuesday.

Kim has been lambasting South Korea with sharp-worded rhetoric, defining inter-Korean relations as "two states hostile to each other" and calling for codifying the commitment to "completely occupying" the South Korean territory in the event of war.

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S. Korea sees N.K.'s claimed test of underwater nuclear attack drone as 'exaggerated, fabricated'

SEOUL -- South Korea's presidential office said Sunday it is weighing the possibility that North Korea's latest purported test of an underwater nuclear weapons system is an "exaggerated and fabricated" claim.

North Korea said Friday it has conducted an important test of an underwater nuclear attack drone, named the Haeil-5-23, in the East Sea in response to the latest joint naval drills involving South Korea, the United States and Japan.

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