South Korea fired warning shots on Monday morning after a North Korean drone violated South Korean airspace, Reuters news agency reported, citing the South Korean media house Yohap.
A fighter jet and two helicopters were sent to shoot down the drone that was allegedly flying over the South Korean capital Seoul.
In a statement, South Korea described the North Korean drone in South Korean airspace as a “clear provocation,” Reuters reported.
It will be the first time since 2017 that a North Korean drone has violated South Korean airspace.
South Korea is said to have responded quickly to the provocation by sending planes north of the military border, a South Korean military spokesman said.
According to Reuters, the fighters should not have been able to shoot down the drone.
The fighter jet, of the type KA-1, was said to have had an accident in connection with the mission and crashed about 140 kilometers east of the South Korean capital Seoul. The two pilots on board must have managed to get off before the plane hit the ground, and are now hospitalised.
The news comes less than three days after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea, according to South Korean defense officials.
– We observed two short-range rockets fired by North Korea into the East Sea from the Sunan area in Pyongyang, the defense statement said. The East Sea is also known as the Sea of Japan.
