South Korean Warplane Crashes After Takeoff as North 'Violates' Air Space

A South Korean warplane crashed on Monday while responding to an incursion of North Korean drones into South Korea's airspace, according to local media, though both crew members survived.

The KA-1 light attack aircraft went down shortly after leaving its base in the district of Wonju, east of Seoul, according to a South Korean defense ministry official.

South Korean news agency NEWS1 reported five North Korean drones crossed the military demarcation line, which marks the border between North and South Korea, on Monday morning.

In response Seoul scrambled combat aircraft and attack helicopters, which chased after the drones.

A South Korean helicopter attempted unsuccessfully to shoot down a drone over Gyodong Island, by the North Korean border, according to NEWS1.

The news agency reports warning shots were fired by other South Korean warplanes to deter the drones, which all returned to North Korean territory undamaged.

One of the drones flew above Seoul, the South Korean capital, passing by the Odusan Unification Observatory on the city's northern outskirts.

Newsweek has contacted the South Korean defense ministry for comment.

Flights from South Korea's Incheon and Gimpo airports were temporarily suspended in response to the drone incursions.

These came just days after North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles on December 23, in an apparent test, according to the South Korean military.

South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said the missiles were fired from the Sunan area of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and headed east towards the sea.

A said: "Our military maintains a full readiness posture while closely cooperating with the U.S. while strengthening surveillance and vigilance."

Earlier in December joint U.S./South Korean training exercises saw American nuclear capable bombers and stealth fighters take to the skies over South Korea. This angered Pyongyang and the recent missile launches and drone incursions may be a response.

On Thursday, Japanese newspaper Tokyo Shimbun reported that North Korea has sent military supplies, including artillery shells, to Russia for use in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The paper reported some of this equipment had been used by the Wagner Group, a notorious Russian mercenary organization that is fighting alongside the Russian army.

This was denied by the North Korean foreign ministry in a statement sent to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Using an acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or North Korea, they said: "The Japanese media's false report that the DPRK offered munitions to Russia is the most absurd red herring, which is not worth any comment or interpretation."

On December 13 a Pentagon official claimed Russia was "reaching out to countries" including North Korea in a bid to boost depleted ammunition stocks.

In November North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un vowed to build the "world's most powerful" arsenal of nuclear weapons.

As of June 2019 North Korea had 20-30 nuclear warheads, according to the Arms Control Association.