ROK Air Force Fires Warning Shots At Russian Aircraft that Violated Air Space Around Dokdo, Twice
|What is ironic about this is that the Russians have done something more provocative than the Japanese have ever done with Dokdo. So are all the Dokdo crazies going to go protest in front of the Russian embassy now?:
South Korean warplanes fired hundreds of warning shots at a Russian military aircraft that entered South Korean airspace on Tuesday, defence officials said, while Russia denied violating any airspace and accused South Korean pilots of being reckless.
It was the first time a Russian military aircraft had violated South Korean airspace, an official at the South Korean Ministry of National Defence said in Seoul.
The incident, which also involved China and Japan, could complicate relations and raise tension in a region that has for years been over-shadowed by hostility between the United States and North Korea.
Two Russian Tu-95 bombers and two Chinese H-6 bombers entered the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ) together early on Tuesday, the South Korean defence ministry said.
A separate Russian A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft later twice violated South Korean airspace over Dokdo – an island that is occupied by South Korea and also claimed by Japan, which calls it Takeshima – just after 9 a.m. (midnight GMT Monday), according to the South Korean military.
Reuters via a reader tip
You can read more at the link, but this is the first time a foreign aircraft has violated ROK air space and warning shots were fired. Despite all the Japan bashing over the years on the Dokdo issue they have never done anything close to this. Don’t forget that the Chinese are involved in this as well. Will any of the so called patriotic Koreans show up and protest in front of the Chinese embassy?
In my opinion this appears to be a planned provocation by the Chinese and the Russians to stir the pot between the ROK and Japan since they both claim the Dokdo islets.