Nine Chinese and Russian Aircraft Enter South Korea’s Air Defense Identification Zone

Nine Chinese and Russian military aircraft entered South Korea’s Air Defense Identification Zone over waters to the country’s east and south.

Yonhap reported on this, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea.

According to the military, at about 10 a.m. on December 9 (local time), two Chinese aircraft and seven Russian aircraft entered the zone one after another.

This prompted the South Korean military to scramble fighter jets in a readiness posture to respond to any unexpected actions.

The aircraft, which included bombers and fighters, entered and exited the air defense identification zone several times over the course of about an hour.

The headquarters reminded that an Air Defense Identification Zone is not a country’s sovereign airspace, but it does require advance notification before entry.

The South Korean military noted that since 2019, Russia and China have conducted similar flights once or twice a year during joint exercises, without informing Seoul in advance.

In the previous incident, which took place last November, 11 military aircraft from both countries entered the zone simultaneously.

As previously reported, a Chinese J-15 fighter jet, while flying over international waters, locked its radar onto Japanese F-15 fighters, demonstrating a potential readiness to attack.

The Japanese side stated that the incident took place on Saturday, when the Chinese aircraft targeted their fighters with its radar. In response, China accused Japanese aviation of obstructing its training flights.

At the end of November, another Chinese provocation was reported to have been suppressed.

The South Korean Coast Guard forcibly stopped an attempt by Chinese fishing vessels, belonging to the so-called “little blue men” flotilla, to violate its territorial waters.