Anchor: Five North Korean drones violated South Korean airspace as they crossed the Military Demarcation Line(MDL) on Monday. Fighter planes and attack helicopters were sortied in response, firing around 100 shots but failing to shoot down any drones.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: North Korean drones penetrated South Korean airspace on Monday, prompting the military to engage in an ultimately unsuccessful response.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) said that the first drone was detected north of the MDL near Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province at around 10:25 a.m. Monday. After it crossed the MDL into the South, four others were detected.

In response, the military broadcast warnings and fired warning shots. When the drones appeared west of Gyodong Island in the Ganghwa area, a less densely populated region, around 100 live rounds were fired from attack helicopters, but none successfully neutralized the target.

The first drone traversed the neutral waters of the Han River between the Gyeonggi cities of Gimpo and Paju, before traveling into northern Seoul. It is estimated to have flown within South Korean airspace for three hours.

The military lost track of the other four drones after they moved westward from Incheon's Ganghwa County, likely an attempt to throw the South Korean military's response into disarray.

South Korea also responded by deploying both manned and unmanned reconnaissance assets near the MDL into the North at a distance equivalent to that traveled by the regime's drones, filming major military facilities and conducting recon activities.

As for the South Korean KA-1 light attack aircraft that crashed in Gangwon Province earlier on Monday, it reportedly had an accident while taking off to respond to the North Korean drones. Both pilots ejected safely.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.