Seoul: After the Incursion, Military fired at North Korean drones

South Korea accused the North of flying several drones across their shared border on Monday, prompting Seoul’s military to deploy warplanes to shoot them down — with local media reporting one of the planes later crashed.

The incursion was the first time in years that North Korean drones have invaded the South’s airspace and came hot on the heels of a recent flurry of sanctions-busting weapons tests by Pyongyang.

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the military first detected a suspected North Korean unmanned aerial vehicle around the airspace of Gimpo at 10:25 am (0125 GMT) and “responded immediately”.

“This is a clear act of provocation in which North Korea invaded our airspace,” A JCS official stated this to reporters.

Seoul issued warning shots, deployed fighter jets and attacked helicopters to attack the five drones. One drone reached near Seoul’s airspace.

Yonhap news agency reported that one warplane, a KA-1 Light Attack aircraft, crashed later in Hoengseong.

The military didn’t say whether the objects had been destroyed or returned to the border, which is the most heavily fortified location in the world.

South Korea’s military also deployed its own unmanned and manned reconnaissance assets in areas north and south of the Military Demarcation Line. “corresponding measures”.

“We conducted reconnaissance and operational activities, including photographing major enemy military facilities,” According to the JCS official.

“Our military will continue to respond thoroughly and resolutely to such provocations by North Korea,” He concluded.

Flights were temporarily suspended at Gimpo and Incheon international airports — the country’s two major hubs — for about an hour at the request of the JCS, according to Yonhap, which cited an official from South Korea’s transport ministry.

Yang Moo-jin,

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