• One of five North Korean drones flew near Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and the others near the west coast
South Korea's military said five North Korean drones crossed into South Korea on Monday, and South Korea responded with jets and attack helicopters and opened fire to try to shoot down the North Korean plane.
A South Korean military official said that as part of its response, the South Korean military also sent surveillance planes to the North to take pictures of its military installations.
"This is a clear provocation by the North to violate our airspace," a South Korean official told a briefing with Joint Chiefs of Staff Lee Seung-o.
One of the five North Korean drones flew near Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and the others near the west coast.
Lee said that the South Korean military "conducted maneuvers to shoot down" the drone.
He did not say whether any drones were shot down, but Yonhap news agency later said that South Korea's military fired about 100 rounds, but failed to shoot down any. Lee said South Korea fired "warning shots" when it first detected the drone.
Yonhap, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reported that one of the drones had returned to North Korea, while South Korea had lost track of the other four.
North Korea has no channels for media questions from South Korea and its state media has made no mention of any drones.
South Korean reconnaissance aircraft flew over the North to take photos in action consistent with North Korean drone flights, Lee said, suggesting the North Korean drone was also for reconnaissance.
The military said earlier that South Korea spotted drones coming from North Korea in the skies over the western city of Gimpo at around 10:25 a.m. (0125 GMT) above the so-called military demarcation line between the two countries.
The drones are the first confirmed arrival from the increasingly isolated neighbor since 2017, when a North Korean drone crashed and was found on a mountain near the border.
In 2014, a North Korean drone was discovered on a South Korean border island.
Those drones were supposed to be crude aircraft fitted with cameras.
missile tests and military exercises
Lee said on Monday the North Korean drones were small, about two metres, but gave no other details of what equipment, if any, they were carrying.
Relations between North Korea and US ally South Korea have been poor for decades, but have recently become more strained after a new, conservative government came to power in South Korea and North Korea tightened its nuclear and missile programs. pressure is exerted.
South Korea and the US military have responded to North Korea's record number of missile tests this year by ramping up military drills. North Korea views such exercises as preparation for invasion.
There have been more North Korean tests and exercises on them, including rare warplanes near the border.
South Korea's transport ministry said earlier that flights to and from its Incheon and Gimpo airports were suspended following a request from the military.
The suspension began at 1:08 p.m. (0408 GMT) in Gimpo and at 1:22 p.m. A ministry official told Reuters that the flight started at 2:10 p.m. before landing in Incheon and lasted about an hour.
South Korea's KA-1 light attack aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from its base in Wonju in the east of the country while combating drones, a defense ministry official said. Its two pilots managed to escape before the crash and are in the hospital.
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