Russia breaches Kadiz for 20th time this year

Six Russian military aircraft violated Korea’s air defense identification zone on Tuesday, prompting the Air Force to scramble fighter jets, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

An A-50 early-warning aircraft, three SU-27 fighter jets and two TU-95 bombers entered the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (Kadiz) four times between 9:23 a.m. and 2:44 p.m. without prior notice and stayed in the zone for about four hours in total before leaving at around 3:13 p.m., according to the JCS.

The warplanes breached the Kadiz over waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula, including the country’s easternmost Dokdo islets and Ulleung Island in the East Sea - above Pohang in North Gyeongsang and Jeju Island.

But none of the aircraft violated Korea’s territorial airspace, the JCS said. Upon detecting the first plane entering Kadiz over Ulleung Island, the Korean Air Force deployed some 10 fighters, including F-15K and KF-16 jets, which “had taken due measures” of tracking the aircraft and sending warning messages to force them out, according to the JCS.

The latest violation brought the total number of entries by Russian aircraft into Kadiz so far this year to 20.

On July 23, a Russian A-50 aircraft intruded into Korea’s territorial airspace over the Dokdo islets twice, leading the Air Force to fire hundreds of warning shots.

The intrusion came shortly after two other Russian aircraft and two Chinese military aircraft breached the Kadiz between the Dokdo islets and Ulleung Island several times in unusual joint air maneuvers.

In August, two Russian TU-142 patrol planes also violated the Kadiz over the East Sea.

In order to prevent such cases, Korea and Russia have been pushing to set up a military hotline between their air forces to exchange their flight information, according to the JCS.

The air zone is not part of a country’s air space and not bound by international law.

Yonhap