Several North Korean drones entered South Korean airspace today.

Yonhap reported about this.

Combat aircraft were raised to intercept the drones.

According to the official spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, at 10:25 a.m. local time, the military detected numerous “unidentified objects” in the air, presumed to be unmanned aerial vehicles, in the border areas of Gyeonggi Province.

The drones crossed the military demarcation line separating the two Koreas and were spotted in the Gimpo, Ganghwa Island and Paju districts, leading to temporary suspension of civilian flights from local airports.

Fighters, attack helicopters and other warplanes of the armed forces of the Republic of Korea were launched into the air to intercept drones from the DPRK.

This is the first recorded incursion of North Korean drones into South Korean airspace since 2017.

During the operation to intercept the drones, the South Korean military also deployed a KA-1 turboprop light attack aircraft, but for an unknown reason it crashed in the northeast of the country.

The plane reportedly crashed in Hongseong County, about 140 kilometers east of Seoul, at 11:43 a.m. local time after taking off from an air base in the nearby city of Wonju.

Both pilots survived and were taken to the nearest hospital.

The KA-1 light attack aircraft was developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) based on the KT-1 single-engine training aircraft.

The aircraft has four hardpoints, on which it is possible to place various guided and unguided weapons.