North Korean drones fly over border with South Korea, which suspends civilian flights for one hour

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that they had seen and chased 5 North Korean drones which flew over the border. Seoul sees the manoeuvre by its northern neighbour as “a clear act of provocation” which comes after the launch of ballistic missiles from Pyongyang on Friday which had already fuelled tensions.

Seoul gave the alert. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff announced on Monday that they “detected a North Korean unmanned aerial vehicle around Gimpo airspace at 10:25” and then “responded immediately“. For Seoul, these drones, which arrived by surprise, are “a clear act of provocation in which North Korea invaded our airspace“, a general staff officer told reporters.

According to the South Korean military, the incursion drew warning fire from Seoul, which also deployed South Korean fighter jets and helicopter gunships to shoot down five drones, one of which had hit the airspace near Seoul. One of the South Korean planes, a KA-1 fighter jet, then crashed in Hoengseong County, further east, according to the Yonhap news agency. The army did not indicate whether the drones had been shot down or whether they crossed the border between the two Koreas, a frequent source of tension between the two highly militarised countries.

A threat that prompted Seoul to suspend civilian flights

It is the first time in five years that North Korean drones have flown over South Korean airspace. A surprise operation that greatly worried Seoul. Indeed, South Korea has suspended all flights at the country’s two international airports, Gimpo and Incheon, near the capital, for about an hour at the request of the military.

For the moment Pyongyang denies any involvement in this appearance of drones in the skies of South Korea and accuses its neighbour of fabricating evidence. But for Seoul, North Korea’s use of drones is now a growing concern.

This incursion comes in a context of heightened tension. On Friday, December 23, Kim Jong-Un’s government fired two short-range ballistic missiles and claimed to have developed new capabilities to take images from space using a spy satellite it plans to launch in April 2023.