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| Russian Deputy Military Attache Nikolai Marchenko, left, and Assistant of the Military Attache Sergey A. Balazhigitov arrive at the Joint Chiefs of Staff building in Seoul, Tuesday, summoned by the South Korean military after a Russian military plane violated South Korea's airspace in the East Sea twice the same day, following separate cases of the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) violations by two other Russian bombers along with two other Chinese bombers earlier in the day. Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
Russia said a military airplane's intrusion into South Korean territorial airspace Tuesday "wasn't intentional," and Russian officials expressed "deep regret" over the violation of the country's airspace, Cheong Wa Dae said, Wednesday.
"Russia expressed deep regret and blamed a technical glitch. The Russian side said it will immediately launch an investigation into the case and take every necessary measure," Yoon told reporters in a briefing at the presidential office, adding the apology offered by the Russian side was made by military officials summoned to the Ministry of National Defense the day before.
"Russia said if the aircraft flew according to an initially planned route, this incident would not have occurred. Russia asked South Korea to provide relevant details regarding the incident such as the time, location, coordinates and screenshot photos for its investigation," the chief press secretary Yoon said.
Russia said its plane was taking part in joint air patrol exercises by Russian and Chinese aircraft over the East Sea and the East China Sea, which was the first ever air patrol between the two countries. A total of three Russian and two Chinese military aircraft entered the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) on Tuesday morning, including a Russian A-50 warplane which briefly violated South Korea's airspace before leaving.
On Tuesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) summoned Russian Deputy Military Attache Nikolai Marchenko and Assistant of the Military Attache Sergey A. Balazhigitov to lodge a protest after the Russian warplane violated South Korea's airspace in the East Sea near the country's easternmost islets of Dokdo.
Hours after the briefing at the presidential office, however, South Korea's defense ministry said its military department at the South Korean embassy in Russia obtained an official document, the same day, from the Russian military authorities, in which they blamed South Korean KF-16s for approaching the Russian bombers near Dokdo (or the Liancourt Rocks as they phrased) and conducted unprofessional maneuvers jeopardizing their safety.
The ministry in a statement said that the Russian military authorities' stance contradicts its own expression of "regret" through foreign diplomacy channels.
Meanwhile, South Korea's defense ministry dismissed the Japanese government's protest against Seoul over its firing of warning shots to the Russian military plane.
"The Japanese government said that the Republic of Korea Air Force's responsive operation against a Russian military plane which violated the airspace of Dokdo was a violation of Japan's airspace," ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo told reporters in a separate briefing. "The Ministry of National Defense clearly announces our stance that we do not see the Japanese government's claim as worth acknowledging, as Dokdo is historically and geographically as well as by international law clearly Korean territory. We will respond firmly and strictly against any external invasion of Dokdo."
Japan's Self-Defense Forces dispatched fighter jets in response to the ROKAF aircraft's warning shots. The dispute over the territory of Dokdo comes amid a wider range of disputes between the two countries, centering export restrictions that Japan has placed on certain high-tech materials bound for South Korea.
The U.S. government maintained its "strategic ambiguity" stance over the territorial dispute between Japan and South Korea, though expressing its strong support for its two allied countries.
"The United States strongly supports our ROK (Republic of Korea) and Japanese allies and their responses to air space incursions by Chinese and Russian Aircraft," Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn was quoted as saying by U.S. media outlet.
"The DoD (the U.S. Department of Defense) is in close coordination with our ROK and Japanese allies about these events and will continue to monitor activities as they follow up with their Russian and Chinese counterparts in diplomatic channels. The United States commitment to the defense of its allies is ironclad."
