Another Turkey In The Making? South Korea Fires Warning Shots As Russian Jet Violates Airspace

A Russian fighter jet violated South Korean airspace twice leading to South Korean warships having to resort to warning shots to ward it off the territory, The Hindu has reported.

In the first such incident between the countries, three Russian and two Chinese fighters entered South Korean air defence identification zone and one of the Russian planes went on to violate its territorial sky. South Korean jets were scrambled following the violation and they fired warning shots to ward off the Russian jet.

It left the area but soon returned and violated the South Korean airspace again, the South’s Defence Ministry said again leading to warning shots by the Korean aircraft. The Russian plane didn’t return fire during the engagement.

While Chinese fighters occasionally enter the South’s air defence identification zone , this was the first such incident with Russians. The incident occurred over islets between South Korea and Japan, with the territory a cause of dispute between the two.

In 2015, Turkey had gunned down a Russian fighter jet that it claimed has violated its airspace. While widely speculated, the incident did not lead to military action against Turkey by Russia, rather led to Turkey being distanced from its Western allies. Tensions between Turkey and its NATO allies flared as the US said that the Russian jet might’ve been shot down in international airspace as opposed to Tukery’s claim.

Fast forward four years, Turkey, a NATO member, has bought a Russian air defence system and has been removed from the collaborators list for American F-35 jets signalling a shift in Turkey’s lean from the West to Russia.

South Korea, among other nations, has been on US President Donald Trump’s radar as he seeks to increase the price the nations pay for US bases in their territories. Back in February, Trump had claimed that South Korea had agreed to pay $500 million more for maintenance of bases.