Russian and Chinese fighter planes briefly penetrated the South Korean air defense zone during a joint exercise. The South Korean military announced on Friday that the planes did not enter the actual airspace of the country. China told the South Koreans that it was “normal training”. According to its own information, South Korea nevertheless sent fighter jets to monitor the intruders.
Accordingly, the planes flew for around ten minutes in the airspace monitored by South Korea. The incident took place northeast of a controversial group of islands off the east coast of South Korea. The archipelago is controversial between Japan and South Korea. It is controlled by Seoul and called Dokdo. However, Japan also claims them. The Japanese call it Takeshima.
So-called air defense identification zones are located outside the airspace of a country. In these zones, the armed forces monitor foreign aircraft for security reasons. However, they are self-declared and technically international airspace.
In 2019, South Korean fighter jets fired more than 400 warning shots after a Russian military aircraft breached the airspace near the disputed islands. Japan also complained to Moscow. Russia stated at the time that it does not recognize such zones.
fml/cp
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