Jin Young-seung, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Also Lodges Protest
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek is reported to have lodged a protest with United States Forces Korea (USFK) over an incident on February 18 in which a USFK fighter jet conducting training over the West Sea (Yellow Sea) faced off against a Chinese fighter jet.
According to military sources on the 21st, Minister Ahn, after being briefed on the situation at the time, is said to have called General Xavier Brunson, Commander of USFK and Commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, to lodge a protest.
The USFK side is said to have notified our military in advance of the fact that the training would take place, but did not explain specific flight objectives or plans.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Jin Young-seung is also reported to have called Commander Brunson to convey his protest.
It appears that Minister Ahn and Chairman Jin directly protested to Commander Brunson over the West Sea US-China fighter jet standoff because USFK did not share in detail its air training plans over the West Sea, which is sensitive in relations with China.
On February 18, more than ten USFK F-16 fighter jets departed Osan Air Base for training and conducted a large-scale flight drill over the West Sea. The fighter jets are reported to have flown to an area between the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) and the China Air Defense Identification Zone (CADIZ), where the two zones do not overlap.
As the US fighter jets approached close to the CADIZ, China also scrambled its fighter jets, and at one point US and Chinese forces faced off over the West Sea, heightening tensions. However, it is reported that neither side entered the other’s air defense identification zone.
Meanwhile, regarding a report on this day that "our government rejected a ROK-US-Japan joint air exercise proposed by the United States," the Ministry of National Defense refuted it, saying, "This is not true," and added, "The ROK-US alliance and ROK-US-Japan security cooperation remain solid."
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