South Korea scrambles jets as North Korean drones intrude

South Korea scrambled warplanes and assault helicopters and fired warning pictures on Monday after North Korean drones violated its airspace, the South Korean army stated.

South Korea tracked the drones crossing from North Korea over what is named the Navy Demarcation Line between the 2 nations after detecting them within the skies of the western metropolis of Gimpo at round 10:25 am, the army stated.

The drones are the primary confirmed to have come from the remoted neighbour since 2017, when a North Korean drone believed to be on a spy mission crashed and was discovered on a mountain close to the border.

In 2014, a North Korean drone was additionally found on a South Korean border island.

At the very least one drone got here down farther and flew over South Korea’s capital Seoul within the newest intrusion, News1 company reported, citing an unnamed army official.

The army stated it tried to shoot down the drones, but it surely was not clear if it was profitable, and whether or not any of them had been armed.

South Korea’s transport ministry stated earlier that flights departing from its Incheon and Gimpo airports had been suspended following a request from the army.

The suspension started at 1:08 p.m. at Gimpo and at 1:22 pm at Incheon and lasted for about an hour earlier than flight departures resumed at round 2:10 pm, a ministry official informed Reuters.

Whereas scrambling to counter the drones, a South Korean KA-1 gentle assault plane crashed shortly after departing its Wonju base within the nation’s east, a protection ministry official stated. Its two pilots had been in a position to escape earlier than the crash and at the moment are within the hospital.