South Korea Sends Drones To Kim Jong Un's Airspace In Unprecedented Move

The exchange of drones, which briefly stopped flights from taking off at major airports near Seoul, came as Kim opened a major political meeting to set security, economic and political policy for the coming year.

South Korea sent drones across the border into North Korea for the first time on Monday, an unprecedented tit-for-tat military move after Kim Jong Un's regime dispatched five unmanned aerial vehicles into its air space.

The exchange of drones, which briefly stopped flights from taking off at major airports near Seoul, came as Kim opened a major political meeting to set security, economic and political policy for the coming year, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday. He has spent the past year improving his atomic arsenal, showing no interest in returning to nuclear disarmament talks that have been stalled for three years.

Kim's regime sent five drones across the border on Monday, the first time he has done so in more than five years. The first one crossed the border at 10:25 am and returned after flying for about three hours. Four more were detected Monday afternoon and later vanished from radar, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Yonhap News Agency said one may have come into the Seoul area to possibly take photos of the presidential office. South Korea's military said it responded by scrambling fighter jets and military helicopters, with local media including Yonhap saying about 100 shots were fired at North Korean drones that broached its airspace near western coastal islands.