19 Chinese and Russian Warplanes Enter South Korea Air Defense Zone: Officials
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats National Preparedness
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said the incident may have been a “joint military drill between China and Russia” but noted that “further analysis” is needed, according to the Reuters news agency.
About 15 Russian military jets and four Chinese military planes entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone, officials told the news agency. South Korea said the Chinese military said it was performing routine training before the aircraft entered the zone.
South Korea said it contacted the foreign ministries of Russia and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) about the alleged incident, according to Yonhap.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the Russian planes flew from north to south over the East Sea, according to the Korea Herald. They then headed northeast.
The Chinese planes flew near Ieodo, which is a submerged rock that contains a weather research station. Two planes left the zone via the East Sea, which is located between Japan and South Korea, officials told the newspaper.
The South Korean news agency noted that the air defense identification zone isn’t territorial airspace. However, foreign warplanes are supposed to inform a country before approaching them ahead of time.
South Korean planes in June 2019 fired warning shots at Russian military jets that were patrolling in a joint exercise with the Chinese military as they entered South Korean airspace. Seoul said at the time that its planes fired more than 360 rounds.
Photo: File photo of a Russian IL-20M (Ilyushin-20M) plane landing at an unknown location on July 23, 2006. Syrian air defense accidentally shot down a similar plane on Monday, Sept. 17, for which Russia blames Israel. (Nikita Shchyukin/AFP/Getty Images)
Link: 19 Chinese and Russian Warplanes Enter South Korea Air Defense Zone: Officials (theepochtimes.com)
