The Ministry of National Defense has decided to temporarily suspend spending on a budget allocated for additional drone purchases, after it emerged that the country’s Drone Operations Command had sought to acquire two dozen drones that have been widely criticized for poor performance. According to data the command submitted to Rep. Boo Seung-chan of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly’s Defense Committee, the unit set aside 1.34 billion won ($914,000) this year to purchase 24 small reconnaissance drones. The drone is a domestically developed model unveiled in 2023 by the Agency for Defense Development as part of an in-house research initiative. Within six months, the agency had produced 100 drones, each costing about 30 million won. The model is the same type of drone the command deployed to Pyongyang in October 2024 as part of a controversial infiltration operation, during the presidency of Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative leader who favored a hard-line deterrence policy toward North Korea over engagement. However, because the program prioritized low