South Korea says it has scrambled fighter jets and attack helicopters in response to the provocation by Pyongyang. Several North Korean drones crossed the inter-Korean border and were detected in the South’s territory on Monday morning, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said several unmanned North Korean drones crossed the inter-Korean border and were detected in the South’s territory on Monday.
The incident is the first time North Korean drones have entered South Korean airspace since 2017.
It wasn’t immediately known if the drones were shot down.
In 2017 a suspected North Korean drone was found crashed in South Korea. South Korean military officials said at the time that the drone photographed a US missile defense system in South Korea.
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It comes days after the North launched two ballistic missiles in its latest testing activities.
Last Friday, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The launch was seen as a protest of the South Korean-U.S. joint air drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.
This year, North Korea has conducted an unprecedented number of missile tests in what some experts call an attempt to improve its weapons and pressure rivals to make concessions such as lifting sanctions in future negotiations.
He said that missile might have shown an “irregular” trajectory, a possible reference to North Korea’s highly manoeuvrable, nuclear-capable KN-23 missile, which was modelled on Russia’s Iskander missile.
South Korea’s military called the launches “a grave provocation” that hurts international peace
It said South Korea will maintain a firm readiness and closely monitor North Korean moves in coordination with the United States.
Mr Ino also accused North Korea of significantly raising tensions with repeated weapons tests.
