South Korean military has publicly apologized for failed attempt to shoot down North Korean drones. Drones invaded foreign territory on December 26.
This is stated in a statement by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to South Korean media. The military failed to neutralize five DPRK drones that illegally invaded the territory of the state. We regret that although our military detected and tracked the drones, we were unable to shoot them down,” said Lieutenant General Kang Shin-chul.
He also noted that the military has certain restrictions on the detection and defeat of small reconnaissance drones. At the same time, Kang Shin-Chul emphasized that the fighters are still able to withstand the threats from large attack drones.
“But in the end we caused a lot of public concern due to insufficient military readiness,” said lieutenant general. To better deal with threats, the military plans to “aggressively” use strike assets and conduct regular exercises using platforms capable of shooting down enemy drones without harming civilians, he said.
The lieutenant general also noted that the South Korean military will insist on the earliest possible creation of a drone unit to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance operations over key military targets of the enemy.
How the DPRK drones flew into South Korea
- On Monday, December 26, five North Korean drones crossed the military demarcation line separating the two Koreas.
- North Korean drones crossed Gimpo, Paju and Ganghwa Islands in Gyeonggi Province around 10:25 am local time. Some have even reached populated areas.
- The South Korean military has raised warplanes and a helicopter. Next fired preemptive shots. One of the stormtroopers crashed. This is a South Korean KA-1.
- The attack aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from the Wonju base in the east of the country, trying to counter the drones. Two pilots managed to escape. They were hospitalized.
- By the way, the media noted that this is the first such incident with drones from the DPRK since 2017.
