Seoul and Tokyo scramble jets and lodge protests after Chinese and Russian bombers conduct joint patrols near their air defence zones.
SEOUL: South Korea and Japan have lodged formal protests after Chinese and Russian military aircraft conducted joint patrols around the two countries.
Both nations scrambled fighter jets in response to the incursions into their respective air defence identification zones on Tuesday.
South Korea said it had protested to the defence attaches of China and Russia in Seoul over the incident.
Japan’s defence minister stated the bombers’ joint flights were “clearly intended as a show of force against our nation”.
Tokyo’s top government spokesman said it had conveyed “serious concerns over our national security” to both Beijing and Moscow through diplomatic channels.
Seoul’s military said the Russian and Chinese warplanes entered the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ).
“Our military will continue to respond actively to the activities of neighbouring countries’ aircraft within the KADIZ in compliance with international law,” said a South Korean defence ministry official.
South Korea also deployed fighter jets to take tactical measures in preparation for any contingencies.
Japan’s defence ministry similarly scrambled fighter jets to intercept the warplanes.
Beijing later confirmed it had organised drills with Russia’s military according to “annual cooperation plans”.
Moscow described it as a routine eight-hour exercise, noting some foreign fighter jets followed their aircraft.
Since 2019, China and Russia have regularly flown military aircraft into South Korea’s air defence zone without prior notice for joint exercises.
Similar incidents occurred in June and December 2023, and in May and November 2022.
The patrols come as Japan is locked in a dispute with China over comments its prime minister made about Taiwan.
Tokyo also recently scrambled jets in response to exercises involving China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier near Japan.
It summoned Beijing’s ambassador after military aircraft from the Liaoning locked radar onto Japanese jets.
