The South Korean military announced today (Monday) that five unmanned aerial vehicles crossed the country's northern border from North Korean territory and that one of them penetrated north of the capital Seoul.
The incident caused echoes of explosions and panic in the metropolis where more than 12 million people live.
The international airports in Incheon and Gimpo were shut down for nearly an hour, which caused disruptions to flights throughout the country and East Asia.
The South Korean army announced that helicopters and fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the aircraft, but despite firing over a hundred shells and missiles, which caused explosions that horrified the peace of the South Korean capital, the aircraft returned safely to the North Korean side of the border.
According to some reports, a fighter plane of the Hocharian Air Force crashed during one of the attempts to intercept the drone and the two pilots fell to the ground safely.
Lee Seung-o, a senior official in South Korea's Ministry of Defense, issued a statement to the state news agency Yonhap, stating: "This is a clear violation of our sovereignty and airspace by North Korea."
Lee explained that the South Korean Air Force responded by sending its own drones towards North Korean territory in order to gather intelligence.
The incident comes at a time of rising tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul as North Korea has conducted a record number of ballistic and cruise missile tests in the past year and held military exercises along the border with the demilitarized zone between the countries.
Meanwhile, tensions in East Asia are also high between China and Taiwan when the Chinese Air Force sent 47 planes, including heavy bombers, into Taiwan's airspace, in a show of power designed to threaten the independent territory and demonstrate Beijing's military capabilities to operate on the island.
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