5 Chinese, 6 Russian warplanes enter South Korea’s air defence zone, Seoul scrambles fighter jets

South Korea on Friday (November 29) said it scrambled warplanes in response to the intrusion by China and Russia into its air defence zone.

The air defence zone is an area wider than the national airspace over which a nation asserts its control for national security purposes. It is, however, not defined by any international treaty and is subject to unilateral declaration and recognition.

South Korean military on Friday said that five Chinese and six Russian military aircraft flew through its air defence zone, following which it scrambled fighter planes, according to AFP.

The agency reported South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying that five Chinese and six Russian military aircraft entered and exited the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East Sea and South Sea from 9:35 am (0035 GMT) to 1:53 pm.

The South Korean statement noted that Chinese and Russian planes did not violate South Korea’s airspace. It added that the military “identified the aircraft before they entered KADIZ and deployed Air Force fighter jets to take tactical measures in preparation for any contingencies”.

China described the flight as a routine affair. It said in a statement that the flight was “their ninth joint strategic patrol” which occurred above the Sea of Japan, which South Korea calls the East Sea. It further said that the flights were held in accordance “to the annual cooperation plan between the Chinese and Russian militaries”.

This is the latest such aggression by China and Russia, which have increasingly become more aligned in their hegemonic designs in the region. Since 2019, the two countries have regularly flown military planes into South Korea’s air defence zone without any notice, ramping up anxieties in the region. They conducted similar flights in June and December last year and previously in May and November 2022 as well.

China and Russia have previously dubbed such flights as “joint strategic air patrols”.

In response to Chinese and Russian actions, South Korea said that “appropriate measures be taken to prevent a recurrence”, adding that such actions could “unnecessarily heighten tensions in the region”.

China and Russia are both allies of North Korea, the arch-enemy of South Korea. In recent years, China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran have worked to create a bloc of authoritarian regimes to challenge the US-led Western world and reshape the world order in its favour. In the Indo-Pacific region, nations like South Korea and Japan have frequently been at the receiving end of their military aggression in recent years.