Two Chinese warplanes enter Kadiz on Thursday

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Two Chinese warplanes enter Kadiz on Thursday

Published: 27 Jan. 2023, 18:04 Updated: 27 Jan. 2023, 18:15

A U.S. F-16 fighter conducts live fire training near Kunsan Air Base in North Jeolla on Dec. 1,2022, a day after Chinese and Russian warplanes entered Korea's air defense identification zone on Nov. 30, 2022. [U.S. AIR FORCE]

Two Chinese fighter jets flew through the overlapping parts of the air defense identification zones of Korea and China earlier this week, prompting the Korean military to scramble warplanes to the scene, officials said Friday.

Their flight on Thursday came just before the Pentagon announced Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Seoul for talks with his Korean counterpart, Lee Jong-sup, next week .

The Chinese fighters entered the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (Kadiz) at 10:30 a.m. and 11:10 a.m. from an area southwest of Ieo Islet, a submerged rock south of Jeju, and exited it at around noon, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

One of the fighters reentered the Kadiz at 3 p.m. and left about 30 minutes later.

Neither jet violated the South's territorial air, according to the JCS.

When the two approached the Kadiz, the Korean Air Force scrambled F-15K combat aircraft and others in a tactical step against potential accidentals, officials said.

The air defense zone is not territorial airspace but is delineated to call on foreign planes to identify themselves so as to prevent accidental clashes.

Yonhap