China Military Plane Entered S. Korea Zone Near East Sea: Yonhap

(Bloomberg) -- A Chinese military plane entered South Korea’s Air Defense Identification Zone three times Saturday, prompting the foreign ministry to summon a Chinese embassy official, Yonhap reported.

The aircraft entered the defense zone from southwest of the Korean Peninsula at around 8:03 a.m. local time before exiting to the east around 8:27 a.m., Yonhap said, citing Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The warplane then re-entered the country’s air defense zone near Pohang city around 9:34 a.m. The plane was spotted again inside the zone above the islets of Dokdo and Ulleungdo from 10:25 a.m. to 12:51 p.m.

South Korea’s foreign ministry urged the Chinese embassy official to ensure efforts to prevent a recurrence of the incursion into the air defense zone, Yonhap said.

It was the first time for a Chinese military plane to fly above the area around the Dokdo and Ulleungdo islets, Yonhap reported a JCS official as saying. It was also the first time a Chinese plane has flown across South Korea to the East Sea this year, according to the official. Chinese planes entered South Korea’s air zones over the East Sea eight times last year, Yonhap said.

Chinese military aircraft have a history of entering Korea’s air zones. South Korea’s defense ministry urged China in December to come up with measures to prevent such violations from happening again.

In July, South Korea sent an F-15K fighter to monitor and issue a warning against a Chinese plane that entered its air defense zone.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hooyeon Kim in Seoul at hkim592@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tan Hwee Ann at hatan@bloomberg.net, Paul Jackson, Jeff Sutherland

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