[외신이 보는 한국 영공 침범 사건] 아시아 4개국 전투기들 대치하다 [Breaking News] VIDEO:Warplanes from four countries face off in Asian confrontation

Warplanes from four countries face off in Asian confrontation

By Ben Westcott, Brad Lendon and Yoonjung Seo, CNN

Updated 0014 GMT (0814 HKT) July 24, 2019

Seoul (CNN)Warplanes from four countries faced off Tuesday in a chaotic and unprecedented confrontation above a small, disputed island off the coast of South Korea and Japan.

아시아 4개국 전투기들 한국 영공에서 대치하다 한국 방공 능력 시험대에 올라 해외에선 매우 심각한 상황 평가 최근 한국의 이미지는 약한 소국으로 퇴화 중 러중, 친북노선의 한국 정부 가장 좋은 기회     4개국의 전투기들이 화요일 한국과 일본 연안의 작은 분쟁 지역인 독도섬 상공에서 혼란스럽고 유례없는 대결을 벌였다. 한국 합동참모본부는 성명을 통해 러시아 A-50 지휘통제기가 두 차례 영공을 침범한 후 화요일 새벽 300발 이상의 경고사격을 가했다고 주장했다. 러시아는 한국군 제트기가 중립수역 상공에서 계획된 비행 중에 폭격기 2대를 위험하게 요격했다고 주장하며 한국군의 회담에 대한 설명을 격렬하게 부인했다. 그러나 일본 방위성은 화요일 오후 성명에서 러시아 A-50이 독도 상공 위로 날아갔고 일본은 요격하기 위한 전투기들이 긴급히 움직였다고 한국의 주장을 뒷받침했다. 더군다나 한일군사관계자는두 대의 중국 H-6 폭격기가 이 지역을 통과하기 위해 러시아 군용기에 합류했다고 말했다. 이들간의 대립은 동해에, 또한 일본해로 알려진 화요일 아침 이른 시간에서 발생했다. 두 개의 작은 섬들은 한국의 독도와 일본에선 다케시마로 알려져 있다. 무엇때문에 이런 상황이 발생했는지 왜 이 지역에 이 비행기들이 집결했는지 는 분명하지 않지만, 분석가들은 이 임무가 러시아가 정보 수집을 위해 한국과 일본 항공기를 끌어내기 위해 의도된 비행일 수도 있다고 말했다. "이번 임무는 한국 국가 방공 시스템에 대한 포괄적인 파악을 위한 것일 것". 이라고 전 오스트레일리아 왕립 공군 조종사는 말했다. 황기철 콘페이퍼 에디터 큐레이터 Ki Chul Hwang, conpaper editor, curator

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South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a statement claiming they had fired more than 300 warning shots at a Russian A-50 command and control military aircraft early Tuesday morning after it had twice violated the country's airspace, the first such incident between the countries.

Moscow furiously denied Seoul's account of the encounter, claiming that South Korean military jets had dangerously intercepted two of its bombers during a planned flight over neutral waters.

But in a statement Tuesday afternoon, Japan's Ministry of Defense backed up South Korea's claims, saying the A-50 had flown over the islands and that Tokyo had scrambled fighters to intercept.

In a further complication, both South Korea and Japan said that two Chinese H-6 bombers had joined the Russian military aircraft on sorties through the region as well.

The confrontation took place over disputed islands in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The two, small islands, known to the Koreans as Dokdo and to the Japanese as Takeshima, are claimed by both countries.

What triggered the confrontation or why the planes were in the region is unclear, but analysts said the mission may have been designed by Russia to draw out South Korean and Japanese aircraft for intelligence gathering purposes.

"This mission will have given them a comprehensive map of the (South Korean) national air defense system," said Peter Layton, a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot and analyst at the Griffith Asia Institute.

 

Chaos in the skies

The incident came during what South Korean officials have claimed was a joint Russian-Chinese military exercise.

According to South Korea, two Chinese H-6 bombers passed into Seoul's Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) beginning from 6.44 a.m., joined by two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers.

The four planes then entered the KADIZ together at about 8.40 a.m. and remained there for 24 minutes.

Airspace is defined as the area 12 nautical miles from a country's borders, which falls entirely under its control. An ADIZ is an area in which the controlling country demands identification, location and control of aircraft's direction, but doesn't necessarily have any rights of engagement under international law.

South Korea's KADIZ was first established in 1950 and most recently adjusted by Seoul in 2013.

After the KADIZ flyover, Seoul said a Russian A-50 flew above the contested islands first at 9.09 a.m. local time and then again at 9.33 a.m., each time for just a matter of minutes.

In response, South Korea deployed F-15F and KF-16 fighter jets, the statement said, and fired 360 warning shots ahead of the Russian aircraft, 80 during the first violation and 280 during the second. The shots were fired using 20mm weapons, according to the country's Ministry of Defense.

The Russian A-50 AWACS command and control aircraft that of twice violating South Korean airspace off the country's eastern coast on Tuesday morning.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed its aircraft had taken part in a "joint patrol" with Chinese long-range aircraft and said that they were conducting the "first joint air patrol using long range aircraft in the Asian-Pacific region."

The statement said that two Russian Tu-95 bombers and two Chinese H-6 bombers had conducted an air patrol over the waters of the Japan and East China Seas.

            

It added that the patrol was "carried out in order to deepen and develop Russian-Chinese relations" and was "not aimed against third countries."

Earlier in the day, the Defense Ministry furiously denied the South Korean reports and accused South Korean fighter pilots of acting inappropriately.

"(They) conduced unprofessional maneuvers by crossing the course of Russian strategic missile carriers, threatening their security," the ministry said in the statement.

"This is not the first time the South Korean pilots have unsuccessfully tried to prevent Russian aircraft from flying over the neutral waters," the Russian statement said, adding it didn't recognize South Korea's KADIZ.

 

A Russian Tu-95 bomber involved in Tuesday's incident as photographed by Japanese aircraft.

Although neither of those statements made any reference to the A-50, later on Tuesday, in an on-camera statement, the commander of the Russian Air Forces Long Range Aviation Lieutenant-General Sergey Kobylash said that the mission was "supported" by the A-50 and KJ-2000.

He also denied that there was any "warning fire," from the South Korea fighters and said: "If Russian pilots had identified such a threat, an immediate adequate response would have followed."

After Moscow released its initial statement, Japan confirmed it had also scrambled fighter jets in response to the Russian incursion Tuesday.

"We confirmed Russia's A-50 has invaded Japan's airspace while two of Russian TU-95 bombers and two Chinese H-6 bombers flew around Japan. We took measures against the invasion," said a spokesman for the country's Ministry of Defense.

When asked about the incident, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they weren't aware of the details and referred the question to the Defense Department.

"You used the word 'intrusion' and I'd caution against using such terms, considering China and South Korea are friendly neighbors and the situation is not clear yet," spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

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