According to the Seoul Broadcasting System and local South Korean Media, the Korean military shot down a “balloon-shaped flying vehicle” near Baengnyeongdo, Incheon, after it crossed the Northern Limit Line in late-March 2024.
Joint Detection and Shoot Down
According to unnamed sources within the ROK military, a joint operation between the Army, Navy, and Air Force spotted the balloon which was then engaged by a KA-1 Light Attack Aircraft once it crosse the Northern Limit Line. The ballon was located on radar by the 6th Marine Brigade stationed on Baeknyeong Island. Ground based air defense artillery fired several warning shots at the object before interceptors engaged. A patrol craft was dispatched from the ROK Navy but found no debris at the crash site.
According to these sources, speaking to Seoul Broadcasting System, this ballon originated from China and pass over North Korea, then through South Korean airspace before being shot down.
Second Chinese Balloon Shot Down
If this craft was truly Chinese origin, this would be the second ballon downed by foreign actors after the United States shot down a High-Altitude Ballon (HAB) on February 4th, 2023, after it drifted over the entire country.
Baengnyeong Island is a 45.8-square-kilometre (17.7 sq mi) located near the Northern Limit Line. The 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement specified that the five islands including Baengnyeong Island would remain under United Nations Command and South Korean control. Since then, it has served as a maritime demarcation between North and South Korea in the Yellow Sea. It has a population of approximately 4,329. Given its proximity to North Korea, it has served as a base for intelligence activity by South Korea. Numerous North Korean defectors have also boated here to escape economic and political conditions in their homeland.
