South Korea fires warning shots at Russian warplanes

It was Chinese and Russian bombers on their first joint patrol.

Russia-China joint bomber patrol meets Japanese & S. Korean fighters, but missions will go on
Published time: 23 Jul, 2019 14:24Edited time: 23 Jul, 2019 14:39

Russian and Chinese strategic bombers on patrol over Sea of Japan, July 23, 2019 © Reuters / Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan

Russian and Chinese strategic bombers have flown their first mission together over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. Tokyo and Seoul are up in arms, but Moscow points out it's all within international rules and regulations.

Two Russian Tu-95ms and two Chinese Xian H-6 bombers patrolled a pre-planned route above the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, “strictly in accordance with international law,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Seoul claims the bombers breached its air defense identification zone (KADIZ), but Moscow insists this designation is not supported by any international rules and that no third country's airspace was violated.

In its own response to the intercept, China reminded South Korea that KADIZ is not recognized as part of a country's airspace and is thus free for other countries’ aircraft to pass through. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson also warned Seoul to “be careful when using the word 'invasion'.”

The route apparently took the aircraft close to a set of tiny islands in the Sea of Japan, known as the Dokdo islands in South Korea and as Takeshima in Japan, and contested by both nations.

The countries subsequently scrambled its military aircraft to ward off the bombers. South Korea also claimed its jets had to fire “warning shots,” but Moscow insists these were only flares.


South Korea also claimed its jets had to fire “warning shots,” but Moscow insists these were only flares. The latter has accused the South Koreans of acting “unprofessionally” and of putting the Russian bombers’ safety at risk by dangerously cutting across their course.

The first-ever joint patrol of the long-range aviation in the Pacific was the beginning of a wider program, which aims to boost the Russian and Chinese militaries' ability to work together, Moscow says. The planned program stretches at least for the remainder of the year and is “not aimed at against third countries.”

 

OK. So they're emulating us in an illegitimate fashion again, this time in how we deal with China's overreach in the South China Sea and so on, by claiming that South Korean airspace is international.

 

This was not South Korean airspace.

 

It was an A-50 Russian surveillance aircraft the South Koreans fired warning shots at, and that the A-50 was flying over an island claimed by both South Korea and Japan. Japan also scrambled jets to intercept the A-50. The Chinese and Russian bombers were flying in international air space close to South Korea but were not shot at by South Korean fighter jets.

 

I don't see a geopolitical mastermind like Richard Nixon on the horizon to drive a wedge between Sino/Russian relations.

 

Post it and they will come.

 

Well, if the Russians and Chinese say so.

 

And what does Japan say?

 

You keep forgetting Japan. What do they say?

I think Russia's doing both those countries a favor. Putin's has always been a stickler on international law. Maybe he's looking at $$$$. He wants a trade route from N. Korea running through the South and crossing over to Japan. It's not going to happen if they're feuding with one another.

I think their hatreds go back centuries, and I'm sure the relations didn't get better in WWII with the Japanese atrocities. My grandson went to Japan during a remembrance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He said there was a tiny run down museum that belonged to S. Korea and inside were photos of Japanese posing with their victims. One photo that shocked him and the Japanese students, was a soldier posing as he was ready to behead a Korean princess.

 

Japan and Russia also have their own little feuds, don't they? Over the Kuril/Chishima islands, at least.

 

Japan scrambled jet fighters after the Russian A-50 flew over the island both South Korea and Japan claim. The Russian and Chinese bombers flew close to South Korea's waters, not Japan's. South Korea fired warning shots at the A-50, not the Russian and Chinese bombers.

 

It's their backyard.

Whether or not it was "an incursion" is a matter of perspective and interpretation, rather like the airspace the US drone was flying in last week.

 

How is it their ...backyard. ?

So if the vatniks flew into the Great Lakes area here....you'd be claiming it's their right and backyard???LOL.

 

Get your dictionary out and discover the meaning of "backyard".

 

Hellfire's are air-to-ground.

How about some sparrows?

 

And resolve.

 

Drug soaked indeed. I actually wondered for a couple seconds what drugs this protestor is/was on. G zus. My guess is meth.

 

I m getting forgetful.....Tomahawks are better.

 

Do you even know what a dictionary is?

 

Last i knew the hellfire was a air to ground missile, the tomohawk is a cruise missile and i believe the sparrow is out of service.

Suitable for shooting down an airplane would be a patriot or an Amraam.

 

I agree

She looks like a meth head

 

To Democrats, YES!

 

Somebody on this thread....a well known 'bash Russia for everything' poster.....doesn't have the where-with-all to realize that Russia shares a border with North Korea. Yeah, it's a backyard.

 

South Korea borders Russia....who would've known?

 

"In its own response to the intercept, China reminded South Korea that KADIZ is not recognized as part of a country's airspace and is thus free for other countries’ aircraft to pass through. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson also warned Seoul to “be careful when using the word 'invasion'.”

China is building islands in the China Sea and warning foreign aircraft to stay clear of them.