S Korea Claims «Warning Shots» Fired after Russian Military Aircraft «Violated Airspace»

By Staff, Agencies

The Republic of Korea's Air Force fired warning shots after Russian military aircraft allegedly violated the country's airspace twice on Tuesday, Yonhap news agency reports, citing officers from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

South Korean F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets were scrambled after two Chinese and three Russian aircraft approached the ROK air defense identification zone [KADIZ] over the Sea of Japan on Tuesday morning, the JCS said.

While the Chinese only entered KADIZ, one of the Russian aircraft allegedly flew too close to the islets of Dokdo and actually breached the South Korean airspace twice for about three minutes, forcing the South Korean forces to fire “warning shots”.

Seoul said it plans to launch an official note of protest over the ‘unprecedented’ incident, explaining that this was the first time a Russian military aircraft has ‘invaded’ Korean airspace. The report did not mention the exact types of planes involved in the incident.

The Russian and Chinese defense ministries have yet to issue a comment.