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| ▲This photo shows Paju DMZ Gondola. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲This photo shows Paju Dora Observatory. (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) -- Security tourist attractions in Paju area have temporarily suspended services after North Korean drones infiltrated into South Korean airspace around Seoul, Ganghwa, and Paju areas on Monday, first time in five years.
Paju Dora Observatory, the Third Tunnel, and DMZ Gondola discontinued operation on Tuesday after the news of N.Korean drones' intrusion and restricted the entrance of visitors.
These tourism sites closed down whenever the provocation rate of the North became high, including last month when the North fired ballistic missile south of NLL.
While tensions remain in the area after the invasion of N.Korean drone for the first time in five years, local residents are calmly continuing on with their lives whilst keeping their eyes and ears open.
Lee Wan-bae, head of Tongilchon village, said, "Residents are not so unperturbed by this as this is not the first time N.Korea is provoking the South," adding, "We just cannot understand why North Korea is provoking us day and night."
According to the military, a number of unidentified planes, assumed to be N.Korean drones, were spotted at Gyeonggi province area on Monday 10:25 a.m.
Total of five N.Korean drones were identified. The first spotted drone came through neutral territory of Han river located between Gimpo and Paju, then went straight to North region of Seoul, and left the Seoul and went back to the North after a total of 3 hours of flight.
The remaining four flights entered through the West side of Ganghwado area and showed signs of flying near Ganghwado area, but it is predicted that they were only utilized to disperse the concentration of the South. Detection device caught their presences in order, but once those traces vanished, they were no longer tracked.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Jiwon Woo.)
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