Russian, Chinese Warplanes Enter South Korean Air Defense Zone

 

South Korean fighter jets scrambled as 11 Russian and Chinese military aircraft entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone on Friday for more than four hours, according to the South Korean military.

The air defense identification zone is different from the nation’s airspace, which the military aircraft did not breach. Russia and China do not recognize South Korea’s defense zone as South Korean territory. The two countries regularly hold joint air drills.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that the Russian and Chinese aircraft entered the area in sequence and exited without incident.

South Korea’s military had identified the aircraft before they entered the zone and deployed air force jets, which conducted tactical maneuvers in response, it said.

South Korea, the United States, and other blocs in the international community have expressed concern over increasing military cooperation between Russia, China, and North Korea.

The United States has already sanctioned many Chinese entities over supplying and financing Russian entities in the war against Ukraine, effectively allowing Russia to evade international sanctions.

Last week, the head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said that Russia is likely to help advance the Chinese military in exchange for its support, echoing concerns that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell raised over the summer.

“I expect Russia to provide submarine technology to the PRC that has the potential of closing American undersea dominance to the PRC,” Adm. Samuel Paparo said at the Halifax International Security Forum, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.

Paparo said that China “has rebuilt, helped to rebuild Russia’s war machine, with 90 percent of its semiconductors and 70 percent of the machine tools that have rebuilt that war machine.”

Russia has also secured support from North Korea, with the United States confirming that 10,000 North Korean troops had reached Kursk. The United States said on Nov. 18 that this was an escalation in the Russia–Ukraine conflict.

“It has been Russia that has escalated the conflict time and time again,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a regular briefing.

“That is a major escalation by Russia bringing in an Asian military to a conflict inside Europe.”