Chinese Military Jet Enters S Korean Air Defence Zone Without Warning - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A Chinese military jet on Thursday entered South Korean air defence zone without notice, and the South Korean Air Force responded by promptly scrambling its fighter jets, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korean defence authorities.

The Chinese jet, supposedly a Y-9 type reconnaissance plane, entered the South Korean air defence identification zone, dubbed KADIZ, at around 10:21 a.m. local time (01:21 GMT) and left it half an hour later, the agency reported, citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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Then the jet returned to KADIZ at around 11:54 local time to leave it three hours later after flying along the South Korean east coast.

The South Korean Air Force scrambled fighter jets to track the Chinese aircraft and also sent it a warning message.

Later in the day, the South Korean Defence Ministry tasked a military attache working in the Chinese Embassy in Seoul with filing a motion of protest and calling on China to prevent similar situations from recurring.

South Korean military officials believe that the move was aimed at testing Seoul's response.

A section of KADIZ overlaps with Chinese and Japanese air defence zones, which is a source of potential regional tensions.