South Korea fires warning shots at North after drone peeps over border

The unidentified aerial vehicle flew across the border and encroached into South Korean territory by some “tens of metres”, the defence ministry said.

North Korea DMZ Wong Maye-E / PA Wire File photo. North Korean soldiers guard the truce village of Panmunjom at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which separates the two Koreas. Wong Maye-E / PA Wire / PA Wire

SOUTH KOREA SOLDIERS fired warning shots at a suspected North Korean drone today that crossed the tense border, the defence ministry said.

The unidentified aerial vehicle flew across the border and encroached into South Korean territory by some “tens of metres”, the defence ministry said.

The incursion occurred near South Korea’s Mount Dora Observation Post, some 47 kilometres north of Seoul, at 2:10 pm (05:10 GMT).

South Korean soldiers responded by sounding broadcasts and firing warning shots before “the vehicle immediately returned to the north,” the ministry said.

South Korea Koras Tension Associated Press A man watches a TV news program showing an unmanned North Korean drone that crashed in the south in April 2014. Associated Press

Yonhap news agency said about 20 rounds had been fired as warning shots from a machine gun.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye has urged the international community, and in particular China, to ensure that North Korea receives the strongest possible punishment for its latest nuclear test.

Her comments came as North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un defiantly told his scientists to swell the size of the country’s nuclear arsenal with more powerful bombs capable of striking the United States.

Describing last week’s test as a gross provocation and an “unacceptable challenge” to global peace and security, Park said it was time to adopt a harsher line with the recalcitrant regime in Pyongyang.

South Korea North Korea DMZ Susan Walsh / PA Wire A view of Ki Jong Dong, North Korea, seen from Observation Post Ouellette in the Demilitarized Zone. Susan Walsh / PA Wire / PA Wire

“The international community’s countermeasures against North Korea’s last nuclear test must differ from the past,” Park told an annual press conference.

As well as working with the United Nations to adopt the “strongest” resolution to penalise North Korea, Seoul would also discuss additional “punitive sanctions” with the United States and its allies, Park said.

The president stressed that China, North Korea’s main ally and economic benefactor, would be critical in securing an effective Security Council resolution.

South Korea fires warning shots at North after drone peeps over border

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