South Korea Scrambles Fighter Jets After Chinese and Russian Warplanes Enter Its Air Defense Zone

South Korea says it scrambled fighter jets on Tuesday after Chinese and Russian military aircraft briefly entered its Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) before leaving the area.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), seven Russian aircraft and two Chinese aircraft flew into the zone around 10 a.m., but did not violate South Korea’s territorial airspace. The planes were identified and monitored, and South Korean fighters were deployed as a precaution, the JCS said.

Yonhap News Agency reported that the aircraft spent about an hour inside KADIZ near South Korea’s eastern and southern coasts.

Background and Context

China and Russia have expanded their joint air activity around the Korean Peninsula in recent years, seen by analysts as part of broader strategic cooperation and pressure on the United States and its regional allies.

The Korean Peninsula remains a heavily militarized zone where U.S. forces are stationed in South Korea, while China and Russia frequently conduct flights to signal military presence and challenge allied surveillance.

According to Yonhap, Chinese and Russian military aircraft typically carry out joint flights around the peninsula once or twice a year, though such activity has become more sensitive amid heightened tensions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and growing strategic coordination between Beijing and Moscow.