Overview
- A joint army–police taskforce searched 18 locations and seized materials for analysis in the widening inquiry.
- Sites included the Defense Intelligence Command headquarters and a National Intelligence Service building.
- The searches targeted three active soldiers and one NIS employee, extending the probe beyond civilians already charged.
- Seoul denies a state-directed role and points to possible civilian involvement; one suspect confessed he sought radiation readings near a North Korean uranium facility.
- North Korea says it shot down a spy drone on January 4 after a launch from Incheon, and President Lee Jae Myung has labeled the incident a “war declaration.”