The new laser weapons are invisible and noise-free and would be operated solely by electricity. They would down incoming unmanned aerial vehicles by melting them out of the sky, one official told AFP.

“When a laser weapon transfers heat to a drone, its surface melts. As the surface melts, the internal components catch fire, causing the drone to eventually fall,” said Lee Sang-yoon, an official at the National Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA).

The “Block-I” anti-air laser weapons system - dubbed the “StarWars Project” - will be in place by the end of this year, followed by more capabilities in the future, DAPA confirmed on Thursday.

It said the system, developed by local defence company Hanwha Aerospace, would be capable of launching precision strikes on small incoming drones and multi-copters, adding that each shot would cost just over £1.

Relations between Seoul and Pyongyang have hit a low after a barrage of North Korean missile tests in recent years and the deepening of ties and weapons cooperation between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

The two countries are still technically at war after the 1950-53 war that split the Korean Peninsula ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

North Korea has previously used small commercial drones to infiltrate the area in and around the South Korean capital.

In December 2022, the South’s defence ministry confirmed five drones had crossed into the South, prompting the military to fire warning shots and deploy fighter jets, but none of the UAVs were destroyed.

More recently Pyongyang has harassed its enemy by floating balloons carrying rubbish in the border area, some of which reached central Seoul.

The South’s “ability to respond to North Korea’s drone provocations will be significantly enhanced” by the laser weapons system, DAPA said in a statement, boasting of a 100 per cent success rate in previous tests.

It predicted the system could be “game-changing” for its future ability to counter aircraft and ballistic missiles. However, some analysts have cautioned it is too early to be sure about the weapon’s capabilities.