South Korea Scrambles Jets as Chinese and Russian Warplanes Cross Air Defense Zone
(UnitedVoice.com) – As tensions in the eastern hemisphere rise, South Korea finds itself at a literal crossroads of international strife. The longtime US ally’s neighbors include the infamous Kim Jong-un of North Korea, whose antics and military tests keep Seoul on its toes, and China and Russia, two major world players whose alliance is already shaking up the status quo causing South Korea a fair share of angst.
On November 30, two Chinese H-6 bombers entered South Korea’s Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) without telling anyone they were coming. After repeatedly passing through the country’s northern and southern air defense zones, they returned with six new friends — Russian warplanes. In response, the South Korean Air Force scrambled an undetermined number of F-15K fighter jets.
South Korea (🇰🇷) scrambled fighter jets after two Chinese (🇨🇳) H-6 bombers repeatedly entered and left the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone.
The bombers later returned from the Sea of Japan with six Russian (🇷🇺) warplanes, including TU-95 bombers and SU-35 fighter jets. pic.twitter.com/hSGdPuvioF
— Aerospace Intelligence (@space_osint) November 30, 2022
Moscow sent 4 TU-95 bombers and 2 SU-35 fighters to join China in skirting South Korea’s defensive boundaries. An Air Defense ID zone is a buffer region countries typically use to require foreign aircraft to identify themselves before entering their actual territorial airspace. Therefore, the zone doesn’t constitute an official border.
Because the KADIZ, which Russia doesn’t recognize, isn’t territorial, China believes any country has a right to use the airspace. On November 29, a US missile cruiser used the same logic when it sailed close to the Spratly Islands, a contested area in the South China Sea. Therefore, these incursions into the KADIZ might be a response to US actions.
It could also signal that rising tensions in the area are reaching a boiling point.
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