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| Chinese and Russian Aircraft Break Through the Defense Zone, South Korea Deploys F-15K Fighter Jets |
Seoul - South Korea said it had used fighter jets as a tactical measure after two Chinese and six Russian warplanes entered its air defense area on Wednesday (30/11/2022).
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Chinese H-6 bombers repeatedly entered and left the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) off South Korea's south and northeast coasts starting at around 5:50 a.m. local time, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, the South Korean news agency, Yonhap reported, at 06.44, the jet re-entered the zone from the area northeast of the South Korean port city of Pohang and left the zone at 07.07 local time.
At 12:18 p.m., six Russian aircraft, including four TU-95 bombers and two SU-35 fighters together with two Chinese H-6 bombers, flew into KADIZ from an area 200km northeast of South Ulleung Island and exited the zone at 12:36 p.m. local time.
The country's JCS, however, said the plane had not violated South Korean airspace. "South Korea's F-15K jets were deployed as a tactical measure against a potential unintended situation," JCS added as quoted by the Independent. The incident came just weeks after South Korea and the United States (US) resumed their military drills, angering China.
Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden warned his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia not to engage in long-range nuclear tests. If it fails, the US will increase its military presence in the Korean region to defend itself and its allies, South Korea and Japan.
The warning comes amid heightened tensions in East Asia, with North Korea carrying out 30 missile tests this month and more than 60 this year. The US blames China and Russia for allowing North Korea to conduct missile tests.
On November 3, US and Chinese envoys at the UN Security Council clashed over North Korea's missile tests. While US envoy to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield blamed China and Russia, saying they had ridiculed the council, China's Zhang Jun denied that North Korea's actions were directly related to the relaunch of large-scale US-South Korean military exercises.
Anna Evstigneeva, Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, blamed the significantly deteriorating situation on the Korean Peninsula on Washington's desire to force Pyongyang to disarm unilaterally by using sanctions and applying pressure and force.