The government has expressed regret over the entry of Chinese and Russian military airplanes into South Korea’s air defense zone the previous day.
A foreign ministry official said on Wednesday that the government expressed its regret to the Chinese and Russian sides through diplomatic channels and urged a prevention of recurrences.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, two Chinese military planes entered the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone(KADIZ) from 126 kilometers northwest of Ieodo reef off the southern coast at 7:56 a.m., exiting the zone about 20 minutes later. The planes flew toward the East Sea and again entered the northern side of the KADIZ at around 9:30 a.m., but soon left.
The Chinese planes, H-6 bombers, made another incursion into the KADIZ near the Dokdo islets along with four Russian military aircraft, including Tu-95 bombers, with the duration of the second violation lasting around 17 minutes through 10:15 a.m.
At around 3:40 p.m., four Chinese and two Russians military planes were detected on the outskirts of the KADIZ 267 kilometers southeast of Ieodo reef.
The JCS said none of the planes violated South Korea’s territorial airspace.
China is said to have responded to Seoul’s query on the entry by saying that it was a standard exercise.
Russia said it conducted a joint patrol with China and that the planes did not violate foreign airspace.
Source: KBS World Radio