Government Protests China and Russia for 'KADIZ Intrusion'... "Prevent Recurrence"

Ministry of National Defense Expresses Regret to Defense Attaches of Both Countries
"Creating Regional Tensions... Appropriate Measures Needed"

The government conveyed a strong protest to China and Russia on the 6th regarding the unauthorized entry of their military aircraft into Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ).

The Ministry of National Defense announced that Lee Seung-beom, Director of International Policy, lodged protests on the morning of the 7th to Wang Jingguo, Chinese Defense Attach? to Korea (Major General), and Dmitry Zheleznikov, Russian Defense Attach? to Korea (Colonel), respectively. A military official explained, "We expressed regret to the defense attach?s of both countries for their military aircraft entering our air defense identification zone without prior notice and flying over sensitive areas close to our airspace." He added, "Such actions can be a factor in creating tension in the region, so we strongly requested appropriate measures to prevent recurrence."

Ministry of National Defense

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed regret to China and Russia through diplomatic channels and urged them to prevent recurrence.

Earlier, four Chinese military aircraft and four Russian military aircraft sequentially entered and then exited the air defense identification zones over the South Sea and East Sea on the previous day, which was Memorial Day. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, although there was no violation of airspace by the two countries' military aircraft, the military authorities deployed air force fighters and implemented tactical measures to prepare for any accidental situations even before the Chinese and Russian military aircraft entered the air defense identification zone.

The Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) is an arbitrary boundary set to identify and respond early to military aircraft approaching a country's airspace. It is a different concept from airspace, which is the air above a country's territory and territorial waters. However, it is an international practice for military aircraft entering another country's ADIZ to submit flight plans in advance and notify their position upon entry.

In the past, China and Russia have frequently sent military aircraft into Korea's ADIZ under the pretext of joint patrols or combined exercises. In May and November of last year, Chinese and Russian military aircraft also entered and exited Korea's ADIZ.

China stated through a "hotline" that the entry into the ADIZ was a routine exercise after Korea issued a warning, but Russia reportedly did not provide any notification. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced on its official WeChat (微信, the Chinese version of KakaoTalk) channel the previous day that "China and Russia conducted the 6th joint air strategic patrol on the 6th in the airspace related to the East Sea and the East China Sea based on the annual cooperation plan between the two militaries."