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Seoul — South Korea yesterday accused North Korea of flying a suspected spy drone across the border during talks last week aimed at ending a military standoff that had pushed the neighbours to the brink of an armed clash.

A radar detected the flight of a suspected unmanned aerial vehicle first on August 22 in the demilitarised zone (DMZ), which bisects the Korean peninsula, Seoul’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said.

“It has been seen flying close to the southern perimeter of the DMZ several times, but we failed to intercept it,” a JCS spokesperson told AFP.

The flights took place after the two Koreas began high-level marathon talks to de-escalate tensions, which had flared after a mine planted on the border maimed two South Korean soldiers.

Under a deal struck last week, Seoul switched off loudspeakers blasting propaganda messages into the North after Pyongyang expressed regret over the mine blast. The drone flights were believed to be aimed at monitoring South Korea’s military posture along the border as the two rivals remained on high military alert, Yonhap news agency said.

The intrusion sparked an anti-aircraft warning and prompted South Korea to send an attack helicopter and a fighter jet to track down the drone, without success, it said. In September last year, a South Korean fisherman found the wreckage of a North Korean drone in his net near a frontline island south of the rivals’ disputed Yellow Sea border. A few months earlier crashed drones equipped with cameras were found in three different places near the border.

Meanwhile, South Korean President Park Geun-hye yesterday thanked China, during a summit meeting with President Xi Jinping, for help in defusing recent tension with North Korea that had pushed the neighbours to the brink of an armed conflict.

The rivals averted a full-on military confrontation by reaching an agreement last week to improve ties following a rare exchange of artillery fire over their heavily fortified border. “I appreciate China for playing a constructive role in easing the recent tense situation on the Korean peninsula by closely communicating with us,” Park said at the meeting, according to a pool report provided by her office.

“I hope to share candid opinions with President Xi about the Korean peninsula’s political situation today as tensions continue to remain on the peninsula.”

Park began a three-day trip to China to attend its commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Asia, and is scheduled to attend its massive military parade today.

Park’s sixth summit meeting with Xi highlighted the rapidly growing ties between the Asian neighbours, even as Beijing has grown increasingly frustrated with North Korea. — Al Jazeera.