South Korean aircraft crashes as jets scramble to counter North Korean drones

Asia-Pacific, News December 27, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

South Korean military scrambled its jets and helicopter after five North Korean drones crossed the border to enter South’s aerial territories.

A South Korean KA-1 fighter jet was involved in an accident when it was flying to counter North’s drones, the Republic of Korea’s defense ministry official confirmed.

The South Korean jets were scrambled after the military failed to shoot down the drones through anti-aircraft guns. According to the South Korean defense ministry, while attempting to counter the drones, a South Korean KA-1 light attack aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from its base at Wonju in the country’s east. The two pilots were able to escape before the crash and are currently in the hospital.

South Korean military confirmed that at least five unmanned aerial vehicles were detected entering South Korea’s border. One of the drones was reported to travel as far as the northern part of the country’s capital city of Seoul. Fighter jets and attack helicopters were scrambled in order to shoot down the drones after military shots from the ground failed to bring the drones down.

At least 100 rounds of fire were shot from the anti-aircraft guns and attack helicopters, however, it is still not been reported whether the drones have been shot down. This was the first time in the last five years that North Korea has violated the heavily guarded airspace.

This is a clear act of provocation by the North violating our airspace,” a South Korean military official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lee Seung-o, told in a briefing.

Lee said the South Korean military “operated assets to shoot down” the drones. He did not say if any drones had been shot down, however, he informed the reporters that South Korea initially fired “warning shots” when it first detected the drones. North Korean state-owned media made no mention of the drones or any other military operation.

*^{South Korea’s KA-1 light turboprop attack aircraft. (Image Credit: Andreas Zeitler)}*

South Korean reconnaissance aircraft flew into the North to take photographs in action corresponding to the North Korean drone flights, suggesting the North Korean drones were also meant for reconnaissance.

The drones are the first confirmed violation of South Korean airspace since 2017. Five years ago, a North Korean drone was found crashed on a mountain near the border. The drone was believed to be on a spy mission. In 2014, a North Korean drone was also discovered on a South Korean border island.

Earlier this month, North Korea claimed to have performed major tests needed to acquire its first spy satellite and a more mobile intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. North Korea released low-resolution photos of South Korean cities as viewed from space, but some experts in South Korea said the images were too crude for surveillance purposes.