SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s military said it scrambled its fighter jets after two Chinese military planes and six Russian planes entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone on Saturday.
According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), two Chinese H-6 bombers repeatedly entered and exited an air defense identification zone off South Korea’s southern and northeastern coasts from around 5:50 am.
In addition, several hours later, it re-entered from the East Sea (Sea of Japan) with Russian military aircraft including TU95 bombers and SU35 fighters. He left the air defense identification zone after 18 minutes. There was no violation of South Korean airspace.
The Russian government does not recognize South Korea’s air defense identification zone. The Chinese government has stated that the air defense identification zone is not territorial airspace and that all countries should enjoy freedom of movement there.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense later announced that Chinese bombers were flying from the East China Sea to the Sea of Japan, and that two planes believed to be Russian also flew over the Sea of Japan around the same time. Air Self-Defense fighter jets are said to have been scrambled.
China and Russia have said their military aircraft regularly conduct joint exercises.
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