South Korea has fired warning shots, deployed fighter jets and attack helicopters in an attempt to bring down the drones. One of them even landed near the capital, Seoul.
“Yesterday, five enemy drones invaded South Korea’s airspace and were spotted and tracked by our military, but we apologize for not being able to shoot them down,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
All of the drones are believed to have returned to North Korea, despite a five-hour operation to shoot them down.
South Korea’s military is capable of countering “strike drones that pose a real threat,” but the military’s ability to spot and shoot down small spy drones has some limitations, the committee said.
“As a result, the army’s lack of preparedness has caused great public concern.”
South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol admitted at a government meeting on Tuesday that there are deficiencies in the army’s readiness.
Yun issued an order to expedite the creation of a drone unit that is expected to conduct surveillance operations on important North Korean military facilities.
The North Korean drone strike is the first such incident in years, and comes as Pyongyang has already escalated tensions on the peninsula with unprecedented large-scale weapons tests.
