London, United Kingdom. In a posting from the UK military, comes late breaking word that South Korean forces have opened fire upon North Korean territory, while attempting to down an unmanned aerial vehicle or reconnisance drone.
Members of the South Korean armed forces have opened fired at an unidentified object flying south from North Korea, near its border. The South Korean military has admitted to firing an undetermined quantity of projectiles upon the territory of the DPRK.
Local media said the object might have been a North Korean drone. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the military bolstered its air surveillance and broadcast a warning to North Korea in response to the incident, a general alarm has been activated by South Korean forces in the wake of the incident.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency has now reported that the South fired an unknown amount of small arms and anti-aircraft fire into the air and towards North Korea and upon their territory.
It said officials are unclear whether a North Korean drone had actually crossed the border, but the South Korean gun fire landed upon North Korean territory. At this time it is unclear the number of North Korean civilians or service personnel killed or injured.
The Koreas face off across the world’s most heavily armed border, and the two sides occasionally clash, but this would be the first incident during the recent nuclear level standoff between American forces and those of North Korea, who has promised a nuclear response to any provocation.