(LEAD) S. Korea's spy agency confirms former N. Korean foreign minister Ri Yong-ho was purged

(ATTN: UPDATES with more info from para 4, photo)

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's spy agency confirmed Thursday former North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho was purged, but it remains unclear whether he was executed.

The confirmation came after Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday Ri appears to have been executed last year, citing multiple unnamed sources.

Ri, who was appointed as the North's top diplomat in 2016, played a key role in negotiations with the U.S. for the 2018 and 2019 summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and then U.S. President Donald Trump. The Hanoi summit in early 2019 ended with no deal. Ri is known to have left office in 2020.

Rep. Youn Kun-young of the main opposition Democratic Party told reporters that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) has not reported the background or cause of the purge.

The NIS also said it cannot rule out the possibility of five North Korean drones that recently infiltrated South Korean airspace filmed the presidential office in Seoul, according to Rep. Youn.

The five unmanned aerial vehicles were sent by the North across the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas on Dec. 26. The South Korean military failed to shoot them down, raising questions over its air defense posture.

Rep. Youn also said the NIS has confirmed the vehicles flew through the north side of a no-fly zone around the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The NIS, meanwhile, denied a Yomiuri Shimbun report that the number of unmanned aerial vehicles was 12, instead of five, according to Rep. Youn.

The spy agency also said the North owns around 500 unmanned aerial vehicles of 20 different types that are mostly small-sized, with lengths ranging from one to six meters, according to the lawmaker.

mlee@yna.co.kr
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