The Ministry of National Defense said on the 10th that it lodged a strong protest with China and Russia through diplomatic channels over the unauthorized entry of Chinese and Russian military aircraft into the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) on the 9th.

Lee Gwang-seok, international policy director at the Ministry of National Defense, called the Chinese defense attaché in Korea and the Russian defense attaché in Korea that morning to protest the entry of Chinese and Russian military aircraft into the KADIZ. The Ministry of National Defense stressed, "The military will actively respond to the activities of neighboring countries' aircraft in the KADIZ while complying with international law."

A South Korea-U.S.-Japan air exercise takes place in the overlapping air defense identification zone (ADIZ) between Japan and South Korea southeast of Jeju in April 2024. /Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense

Earlier, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced on the 9th that seven Russian military aircraft and two Chinese military aircraft entered and then exited the KADIZ over the East Sea and the South Sea in sequence. There was no violation of Korea's airspace by the Russian and Chinese military aircraft.

The Russian military aircraft entered the KADIZ near Ulleungdo and Dokdo, and the Chinese military aircraft entered the KADIZ toward Ieodo. When the Chinese and Russian military aircraft entered the KADIZ without prior notice, the military scrambled Air Force fighter jets to prepare for contingencies. The unauthorized joint entry of Chinese and Russian military aircraft into the KADIZ is the first in about a year since Nov. last year and the first since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration.

The KADIZ is an arbitrary line set to identify and respond to foreign aircraft approaching a country's airspace. The international practice is for foreign military aircraft to notify the relevant country in advance of their location upon entry and the purpose of the flight.

However, Russia does not recognize Korea's control, saying the KADIZ established by Korea has no basis in international law. The KADIZ over Ieodo airspace, entered by the Chinese military aircraft, overlaps with the air defense identification zones separately established by Korea and China.

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