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Published on 9 Jan 2017
중 군용기 10여대 이어도 한국방공식별 구역 수시간 침범
The South Korean military is looking into the aerial intrusion by multiple Chinese military aircraft into Korea's defense identification zone on Monday.
The South Korean military is looking into the aerial intrusion by multiple Chinese military aircraft into Korea's defense identification zone on Monday.
The area is near a cross-section of Korea, China and Japan's zones.
Kim Jung-soo has the details.
Korean military officials said Tuesday ten Chinese military planes had been spotted entering the Korean air defense identification zone "several times" from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Korea time.
The planes included six strategic bombers and early-warning aircraft.
A spokesperson for Korea's ministry of defense noted that lone Chinese bombers repeatedly violated the zone last year, but said that the instance on Monday was noteworthy because it is rare for multiple aircraft to cross into the zone.
The planes made multiple passes into the zone near Ieodo, a submerged rock located off the southern coast of Jeju Island, and went through the Korea Strait into Tsushima Strait in Japan before returning to China via the East China Sea.
A military official said South Korea reacted to the incursion by sending roughly ten fighter jets -- including F-15Ks and KF-16s -- to the area, which reportedly sent warning signals to the Chinese planes.
The South Korean Air Force also delivered warning messages to its Chinese counterpart.
China has reportedly explained its actions by saying the flights were part of a military drill in its own air defense identification zone, which it unilaterally declared in November of 2013 and which overlaps with Korea's and Japan's.
But there are some experts who interpret the action as China's way of expressing its discontent with Korea's decision to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to the Korean Peninsula, as well as its dissatisfaction with its control over parts of the East China Sea and developments in the military coalitions between South Korea, Japan and the United States.
But government sources have said that China's actions shouldn't necessarily be linked to its current diplomatic posture.
Kim Jung-soo, Arirang News.
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