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South Korean warplanes mobilized in response to North Korean drones intruding on their airspace, with one defending fighter jet reportedly crashing during the course of events, Seoul’s military said, according to AFP.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said its military first spotted a suspected North Korean drone around 10:35 a.m. Monday local time and “responded immediately,” activating aircraft and attack helicopters and firing warning shots, according to AFP. One of the drones reached the airspace over the capital, and it was not clear whether the vehicles carried weapons.
“This is a clear act of provocation by North Korea that encroached upon our territorial air,” Maj. Gen. Lee Seung-o, director of operations at the JCS, said, local media outlet Yonhap reported. “Our military will respond thoroughly and sternly to such a North Korean provocation going forward.”
Helicopters fired as many as 100 warning shots at the drones but failed to down any, according to Yonhap.
