South Korea scrambles fighter jets as North Korean planes fly close to border

South Korea says it scrambled fighter jets on Thursday, October 13, after a group of about 10 North Korean military aircraft flew close to the border dividing the two countries, amid heightened tensions over repeated North Korean missiles tests.

 According to a statement by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the North Korean aircraft were detected flying about 25 km (15 miles) north of the Military Demarcation Line in the central region of the Korea border area and about 12 km (7 miles) north of the Northern Limit Line, a de facto inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea. 

The incident happened between 10:30 p.m. Thursday (1330 GMT) and 0:20 a.m. (1530 GMT) local time Friday.

It said the aircraft were also seen near the eastern part of the inter-Korean border.

The statement said the South Korean air force “conducted an emergency sortie with its superior air force, including the F-35A, and maintained a response posture, while carrying out a proportional response maneuver corresponding to the flight of a North Korean military aircraft.”

Kim Jong Un last month declared his country a nuclear power and ruled out denuclearization talks with the US. The US and South Korea last week carried out missile launches in response to North Korea flying a missile over Japan.