Five North Korean Drones Cross Into South Korean Airspace, One Flies to Seoul, MoD Says

SEOUL (Sputnik) - South Korea fired warning shots after DPRK drones crossed the inter-Korean border without permission.

NK drones infiltrated South Korea as far as Seoul on Monday, the South Korean Defense Ministry has stated. A number of drones believed to belong to North Korea purportedly trespassed across the inter-Korean border without permission, prompting Seoul to deploy fighter jets, choppers and other assets to shoot them down.

According to the South Korean military, the drones crossed the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas and were spotted in areas in Gimpo, Ganghwa Island and Paju. One of the South Korean fighter jets reportedly crashed, although the crew survived.

The South Korean military fired warning shots, and then took steps to follow them and destroy in a way that "does not cause harm to civilians."

According to Korean news agency, ROK forces fired around 100 shots to shoot down one of the DPRK drones but failed to hit it.

One drone eventually returned to North Korea after flying over Seoul, with the remaining four lost on radars of the SK military.

The South Korean military has been seen struggling to destroy drones, as they change flight path and altitude, and were close to areas with a civilian population. To prevent drones from harming citizens, the troops tried to shoot them down when they were far from populated areas. However due to changes in flight path and altitude, drones appeared and disappeared on detection equipment.

The South Korean Defense Ministry called the intrusion of North Korean drones into the country's territory "a clear provocation" and pledged to respond decisively.

South Korea last reported seeing North Korean drones south of the inter-Korean border in 2014 and 2017.

Lately, NK has conducted a range missile tests. This year alone, Pyongyang launched ballistic missiles 38 times. Some South Korean officials believe that these tests were aimed at ousting US forces from the Korean peninsula. Chung Jin-suk, leader of South Korea's ruling party, stated that Pyongyang plans to drive out US forces "through nuclear warheads and medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles."