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| Deputy Foreign Minister Yoon Soon-gu, right, meets with Russia's acting Deputy Chief of Mission Maxim Volkov at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, Tuesday, to lodge a stern protest over violations of South Korea's airspace by a Russian military aircraft earlier in the day. Yonhap |
South Korean KF-16 fires 360 warning shots
Japan scrambles fighters after shots fired over Dokdo
By Jung Da-min
South Korea has lodged a strong protest with Russia after one of its military planes twice violated South Korea's airspace in the East Sea, Tuesday.
Chung Eui-yong, director of Cheong Wa Dae's National Security Office, sent a message of strong protest to Nikolai Patrusheve, Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Ko Min-jung told reporters the same day.
"We take the situation very seriously, and will take stronger measures if there is a recurrence of such a violation," Chung said. "We request the Security Council of the Russian Federation to take appropriate measures."
The Russian plane violated South Korea's airspace in the East Sea near the country's easternmost islets of Dokdo at 9:00 a.m., prompting the Republic of Korea Air Force to scramble two fighter jets — a KF-16 and an F-15K — according to officials from the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The Russian aircraft, which was identified by the JCS as a Beriev A-50 early warning and control aircraft, entered the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) at 9:01 a.m., and at 9:09 a.m. flew into actual Korean airspace. It left after three minutes and flew out of the KADIZ at 9:15 a.m.
However, the plane reentered the KADIZ at 9:28 a.m. and again violated Korean airspace at 9:33 a.m. flying between the mainland and Dokdo for four minutes.
The South Korean KF-16 fired between 80 and 280 warning shots from around a kilometer away from the Russian aircraft during each violation, the JCS officials said.
The Russian aircraft then headed north passing the Northern Limit Line (NLL) at 9:51 a.m. and left the KADIZ at 9:56 a.m.
The foreign ministry summoned acting Russian Deputy Chief of Mission Maxim Volkov and Deputy Foreign Minister Yoon Soon-gu delivered a stern protest in a meeting with him.
Military officials noted that this was the first time that a Russian warplane has violated South Korean airspace and for a South Korean aircraft to fire warning shots.
The incident followed separate KADIZ violation cases earlier the day by two Russian Tupolev Tu-95 bombers and two Chinese Xian H-6 bombers.
At around 6:44 a.m., two Chinese planes flew into the KADIZ near Jeju Island and flew out of the zone into the East Sea after about 30 minutes. They re-entered the KADIZ in the East Sea at 7:49 a.m. before leaving at 8:20 a.m., five minutes after passing the NLL.
The Chinese warplanes then joined two Russian bombers and flew southward together over the East Sea to enter the KADIZ at around 8:40 a.m. They stayed in the zone for about 24 minutes before leaving at 9:04 a.m. flying south.
Later in the afternoon, the four bombers flew north, again passing through the KADIZ, before finally leaving at 1:34 p.m.
Chinese Ambassador Qiu Guohong was also summoned by the foreign ministry to receive a warning.
Meanwhile, Japan's Self-Defense Forces dispatched fighter jets in response to the ROKAF aircraft's warning shots fired toward the Russian plane over Dokdo, which Japan calls Takeshima and claims sovereignty over.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the warning shots were unacceptable considering the country' claim over the islets, adding that Tokyo had lodged a protest with Seoul over the incident.
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