South Korea fired warning shots on Wednesday (January 13) near an “unidentified flying object” over its border with North Korea, the South Korean defence ministry said, while a news agency said it was a suspected North Korean drone.
The object’s appearance follows North Korea’s claimed hydrogen nuclear bomb test last week, which angered Beijing, Pyongyang’s sole major ally, as well as Seoul and Washington.
“This afternoon around 14:10 (0510GMT) an unidentified flying object intruded the MDL (military demarcation line). So our military fired warning shots after broadcasting a warning. Then it returned to the northern side of the border right away,” South Korea’s Chief of Public Affairs in the Joint Chief of Staff (JCS), Jeon Ha-gyu, said.
The South’s Yonhap News Agency reported that South Korean forces fired about 20 machine gun rounds at the suspected North Korean drone.
Jeon added that the military found leaflets carrying campaigns against South Korea in the Seoul metropolitan area, which they suspected the North sent by balloons on Tuesday (January 12) night and Wednesday morning.
“Today, North Korean military leaflets have been found in the area of Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. North Korea was seen scattering leaflets from the northern area yesterday afternoon and early this morning. Our military is closely monitoring movements of the North Korean military,” he said.
The leaflets were discovered days after South Korea restarted loudspeaker broadcasts blasting propaganda campaigns against Pyongyang as a response to North Korea’s fourth nuclear test. (Reuters)
