South Korea Scrambles Jets, Fires Warning Shots as N.Korean Drones Intrude 

World

December 26th, 7:54am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Flags of North Korea, rear, and South Korea, front, flutter in the wind as pictured from the border area between two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, on Aug. 9, 2021. (AP)

South Korea scrambled warplanes and attack helicopters and fired warning shots on Monday after North Korean drones violated its airspace, the South Korean military said.  South Korea tracked the drones crossing from North Korea over what is known as the Military Demarcation Line between the two countries after detecting them in the skies of the western city of Gimpo at around 10:25 a.m. (0125 GMT), the military said.  While scrambling to counter the drones, a South Korean KA-1 light attack aircraft crashed shortly after departing its Wonju base in the country's east, a defense ministry official said. Its two pilots were able to escape before the crash and are now in the hospital.  South Korea's transport ministry said earlier that flights departing from its Incheon and Gimpo airports were suspended following a request from the military.  The suspension began at 1:08 p.m. (0408 GMT) at Gimpo and at 1:22 p.m. at Incheon and lasted for about an hour before flight departures resumed at around 2:10 p.m., a ministry official told Reuters. 

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