South Korea’s military said Friday that five Chinese and six Russian military aircraft flew over its air defense zone, an area wider than the country’s airspace.
Five Chinese and six Russian military aircraft entered the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone in the East Sea and South Sea between 9:35 a.m. (0035 GMT) and 1:53 p.m., Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Came out.
But the planes entered Cádiz “without violating South Korean airspace,” the JCS said, adding that the military “identified the aircraft before they entered Cádiz and called on the Air Force to take tactical measures in preparation for any contingency.” “Deployed fighter jets”.
Air defense identification zone is a wider area than a country’s airspace in which it tries to control aircraft for security reasons, but this concept is not defined in any international treaty.
China’s Defense Ministry called the flights “their ninth joint strategic patrol”, which took place over the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea in South Korea.
It said in a post on its official social media account that the flights were conducted on Friday “in accordance with the annual cooperation plan between the Chinese and Russian militaries.”
South Korean military officials told local media that the Chinese military aircraft flew toward the tiny Dokdo islands off South Korea’s east coast after passing near the disputed submerged reef of Iodo between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Russian aircraft also flew south towards the Dokdo Islands, known as Takeshima in Japanese.
Officials said the Chinese and Russian planes flew together over the sea south of Dokdo before departing.
Since 2019, China and Russia have regularly flown military aircraft into South Korea’s air defense zone without prior notice, citing joint exercises.
Similar incidents occurred in June and December last year and in May and November 2022, when Beijing and Moscow described the flights as “joint strategic air patrols.”
South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Friday “expressed regret” to China and Russia over their military aircraft entering the south’s air defense zone and “flying for a long time without prior notice,” according to a statement.
The ministry requested that “appropriate measures be taken to prevent a recurrence”, adding that such actions could “needlessly escalate tensions in the region”.
China and Russia have expanded military and defense ties since Moscow ordered troops to Ukraine nearly three years ago.
Both are also traditional allies of Seoul’s arch enemy North Korea.
South Korea and the United States have accused nuclear-armed North Korea of sending thousands of troops to Russia to fight in Ukraine, and Pyongyang this month ratified a landmark defense pact with Moscow.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
