https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20221226007052325
North Korean drones trespass across border; S. Korea sends drones in 'corresponding' step
HOENGSEONG/SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- Five North Korean drones intruded across the inter-Korean border with one of them having flown over northern Seoul on Monday, officials here said, prompting South Korea to send its own unmanned vehicles into the North in a "corresponding" step.
The South's military detected multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in border areas of Gyeonggi Province from 10:25 a.m., according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The UAVs were 2 meters wide or smaller.
The vehicles flew across the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas, and were spotted flying in those areas in Gimpo, Ganghwa Island and Paju, leading to temporary suspensions of civilian flights. It marks the first such intrusion in five years.
One of them flew all the way to the northern part of Seoul, while the rest hovered in and around Ganghwa Island, west of the capital, the JCS said.
The South issued warning messages, fired warning shots, and scrambled fighters, attack helicopters and other warplanes to remove them, while it remains unconfirmed whether the vehicles carry any weapons, the official said.
At some point, military choppers are said to have fired some 100 shots at the North's vehicles but failed to shoot them down.
In a corresponding step, the South sent its own manned and unmanned assets to the border areas, with some into the North to carry out surveillance and other operations, including taking photos of "key enemy military facilities," according to the JCS.
"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, told a press briefing. "Our military will respond thoroughly and sternly to such a North Korean provocation going forward."
The military also deployed a KA-1 light attack aircraft, but for an unknown reason, it crashed in Hoengseong County, about 140 kilometers east of Seoul, at 11:39 a.m. Both of the pilots escaped safely
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