South Korea said it urgently deployed its fighter jets after two Chinese and six Russian military planes entered the country’s Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ).
The warplanes, consisting of two Chinese H-6 bombers, four TU-95 strategic bombers and two SU-35 fighters, were spotted entering South Korea’s KADIZ off South Korea’s southern and northeast coasts on November 30, 2022, the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) were cited as saying by Hani.
South Korea deployed several fighter jets, including F-15K fighters, as a preventive tactical measure in case of any contingencies.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Ministry of Defense also announced that a similar incident had taken place on the same day after two Chinese H-6 bombers and two aircraft presumed to belong to Russia were spotted flying over the East Sea. It was later revealed that the Chinese and Russian warplanes were conducting a joint training exercise.
The air defense identification zone is a line arbitrarily set by South Korea in order to be able to respond to military aircraft approaching into its own airspace at an early stage and is a different concept from airspace.
As per international practice, a foreign military aircraft intending to enter another country’s air defense identification zone must submit a flight plan to the country’s authorities in advance and notify its location upon entry.