South Korea on Monday accused its neighbor North Korea of flying “several” drones on the inter-Korean border, prompting it to deploy planes and fire warning shots to repel them.
“Our military first detected a North Korean unmanned aerial vehicle around Gimpo airspace at 10:25 a.m. (0125 GMT), the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
“Several ‘North Korean drones’ invaded our airspace” in the border area near Gyeonggi province, according to a statement from the South Korean General Staff.
A first in five years
The raid drew warning shots from Seoul, which also deployed South Korean fighter jets and helicopter gunships. One of them, a KA-1 fighter jet, later crashed in Hoengseong county further east, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Flights were temporarily suspended at the Gimpo and Incheon international airports near the capital for about an hour at the request of the military, according to the Yonhap news agency, citing a South Korean transportation ministry official.
It is the first time in five years that North Korean drones have flown over South Korean airspace. The raid comes amid heightened tension as Pyongyang has carried out an unprecedented series of weapons tests this year.
Source: BFM TV
