SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean fired warning shots after a Russian military plane violated South Korea's airspace on Tuesday, Seoul officials said, in the first such incident between the countries.

Three Russian military planes initially violated South Korea's aerial identification zone off its east coast before one of them entered the country's territorial sky, the South's Defense Ministry said.

South Korean fighter jets then scrambled to the area to fire warning shots, a ministry official said, requesting anonymity due to department rules.

The Russian plane left the area but it returned and violated the South Korean airspace again later Tuesday, the ministry official said. He said the South Korean fighter jets fired warning shots again.

It was the first time a Russian military plane violated South Korean airspace, according to South Korean officials.

The three Russian planes had violated the South Korean aerial identification zone with two Chinese military planes. But it wasn't immediately known whether the two countries deliberated did so, according to the South Korean official.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said it plans to summon Russian and Chinese Embassy officials later Tuesday to register formal protests. </s> South Korean jets fired warning shots after a Russian military plane violated South Korea's airspace on Tuesday, Seoul officials said, in the first such incident between the countries.

Three Russian military planes initially entered South Korea's air defence identification zone off its east coast before one of them entered the country's territorial sky, the South's Defence Ministry said.

South Korean fighter jets then scrambled to the area to fire warning shots, a ministry official said, requesting anonymity due to department rules.

The Russian plane left the area but it returned and violated the South Korean airspace again later Tuesday, the ministry official said. He said the South Korean fighter jets fired warning shots again. Each time, the Russian plane didn't return fire, the official said.

It was the first time a Russian military plane violated South Korean airspace, according to South Korean officials.

The airspace the Russian plane violated was above a group of South Korean-held islets roughly halfway between South Korea and Japan that has been a source of territorial disputes between them. Russia isn't a party in those disputes.

The three Russian planes had entered the South Korean air defence identification zone with two Chinese military planes. But it wasn't immediately known whether the two countries deliberately did so, according to the South Korean official.

Before their joint flights with the Russian planes, the Chinese planes entered South Korea's air defence identification zone off its southwest coast earlier Tuesday, according to the South Korean official. Chinese planes have occasionally entered South Korea's air defence identification zone in recent years.

South Korea's Defence Ministry said it plans to summon Russian and Chinese Embassy officials later Tuesday to register formal protests. </s> South Korea says its jets fired hundreds of warning shots at a Russian surveillance plane that entered its airspace on Tuesday

Seoul (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / Online - 23rd July, 2019) South Korea says its jets fired hundreds of warning shots at a Russian surveillance plane that entered its airspace on Tuesday.Officials said the plane twice violated the airspace over the Dokdo/Takeshima islands, which are occupied by Seoul but also claimed by Japan.South Korea's Ministry of Defence said it scrambled fighter jets in response and fired 360 warning shots.Russia has denied violating the country's airspace.Moscow said two of its bombers carried out a planned drill over "neutral waters" and denied any warning shots were fired by South Korean jets.This is the first incident of its kind between Russia and South Korea.South Korea's military said the aircraft was one of three Russian and two Chinese military aircraft that entered the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) on Tuesday morning.

Overseas aircraft must identify themselves before entering the KADIZ.Russian and Chinese bombers and reconnaissance planes have occasionally entered the zone in recent years.However, South Korea said one of the Russian planes - an A-50 reconnaissance aircraft - flew further and entered the country's territorial airspace at around 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT).South Korean F-15 and F-16 planes were deployed to intercept it.The head of South Korea's National Security Office, Chung Eui-yong, has lodged a strong objection with the Security Council of Russia, and asked the council to take appropriate action."We take a very grave view of this situation and, if it is repeated, we will take even stronger action," the South Korean president's office quoted Mr Chung as saying.There has been no comment from China. </s> Seoul says it has fired warning shots after Russian military planes entered South Korea's airspace.

South Korean air force jets fired 360 rounds of warning shots after a Russian military plane briefly violated South Korea's airspace, off its east coast, twice on Tuesday, Seoul officials said.

It is the first such incident between the two countries.

The ministry said South Korea launched fighter jets and that they fired warning shots.

It added that Chinese military planes also intruded into South Korea's aerial identification zone on Tuesday.

The ministry gave no further details. </s> SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said its air force jets fired warning shots on Tuesday to ward off a Russian military plane that intruded upon its territorial airspace, the first such encounter between the countries in decades.

Three Russian military planes, as well as two Chinese warplanes, entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone off its east coast, where foreign military aircraft must identify themselves in advance to South Korea, the South’s military said.

But one of the Russian planes flew closer to South Korea, intruding twice into its territorial airspace near Dokdo, a cluster of South Korean-held islets that are also claimed by Japan and are known as Takeshima to the Japanese, the South Korean military said.

Both times, the Russian plane violated South Korea’s airspace for a few minutes, prompting South Korean F-15 and F-16 fighter jets operating nearby to fire warning shots, the officials said. </s> Seoul says it has fired warning shots after Russian military planes entered South Korea’s airspace.

South Korea’s defence ministry said multiple Russian military planes violated the South Korean airspace off its east coast on Tuesday.

The ministry said South Korea launched fighter jets and that they fired warning shots.

It added that Chinese military planes also intruded into South Korea’s aerial identification zone on Tuesday.

The ministry gave no further details. – PA </s> South Korea's Defense Ministry on Tuesday said its fighter jets fired hundreds of warning shots after Russian and Chinese planes entered the country's airspace.

The Russian and Chinese warplanes were flying in the first joint operation of its kind, according to Moscow. South Korea scrambled F-16 fighters to intercept the Russian and Chinese warplanes, saying they were not authorized to enter its airspace.

"The South Korean military took tactical action including dropping flares and firing warning shots," the South Korean ministry said.

The alleged airspace violation occurred over the Dokdo islets, which are occupied by South Korea but also claimed by Japan. Tokyo also lodged complaints with South Korea and Russia.

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'Perfecting' joint actions

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry denied that its aircraft had illegally entered South Korean airspace. It said the joint operation was part of a new air patrol between Russia and China.

"The joint patrol was carried out with the aim of deepening Russian-Chinese relations within our all-encompassing partnership, of further increasing cooperation between our armed forces, and of perfecting their capabilities to carry out joint actions, and of strengthening global strategic security," the ministry said.

From the Sea of Japan to the South China Sea, tensions between regional military powers have risen over the past decade.

South Korea said the incident was the first time since fighting ended in the 1950-53 Korean War that a foreign military aircraft had entered its airspace without permission.

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Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers were conducting drills in the area

ls,cw,jm/se (AP, Reuters, AFP) </s> The Israeli Air Force shot down a Syrian fighter jet that traveled two kilometers into Israeli airspace on Tuesday afternoon, the military said.

“Two Patriot missiles were fired at a Syrian Sukhoi-model fighter jet,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

The IDF said the aircraft was monitored as it approached the border with the Golan Heights.

“It penetrated two kilometers into Israeli airspace and was shot down,” the army said.

According to Sky News Arabia, the plane crashed inside southwest Syria, in the Yarmouk Basin, an area still under the control of the Islamic State . It was not immediately clear if the pilots ejected before the fighter jet was shot down or what their condition was.

The official Syrian news outlet SANA confirmed that Israel had shot at one of its fighter jets, but said the plane was inside Syrian airspace at the time it was targeted.

According to SANA, Israel fired at “one of our war planes, which are leveling [terrorist] encampments in the Saida region on the outskirts of the Yarmouk Basin, in Syrian airspace.”

A military source quoted by SANA accused Israel of aiding “terrorists” in the country’s southwest, where the Syrian air force has been conducting extensive bombing raids throughout the day against a number of opposition groups in the area.

It was not immediately clear if the plane was a Sukhoi-22 or a Sukhoi-24, two different types of Russian-made fighter jets in use by the Syrian Air Force, the military said.

The IDF said it had noticed increased air force activity in southwestern Syria, near the border, since the morning.

“We have passed a number of messages, in a number of languages in order to ensure that no one violates Israeli air space,” IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told reporters.

Update: Unconfirmed reports say that a pilot was killed. </s> SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired two short-range missiles into the sea Thursday, South Korea's military said, the first weapons launches in more than two months and an apparent pressuring tactic aimed at Washington as North Korean and U.S. officials struggle to restart nuclear negotiations.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles that were fired from near the eastern coastal town of Wonsan flew about 430 kilometers (270 miles) before landing in the waters off the country's east coast.

A South Korean defense official, requesting anonymity because of department rules, said that an initial South Korean analysis showed both missiles were fired from mobile launchers and flew at a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (30 miles).

The North is unhappy with planned U.S.-South Korean military drills that it says are an invasion preparation, and the missile tests may be aimed at sending a message to Washington about what would happen if diplomacy fails.

The timing was also interesting, coming not long after many in the United States were focused on testimony before Congress by Robert Mueller, the former special counsel, about his two-year probe into Russian election interference.

But the missiles' relatively short flight distance also suggests the launches were not a major provocation, such as a test of a long-range missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, and that North Korea doesn't appear to be pulling away from U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at curbing its nuclear program.

In recent days, North Korea has been pressuring the U.S. and South Korea to scrap their summertime military drills. Last week, the North said it may lift its 20-month suspension of nuclear and long-range missile tests in response to the drills. Trump has considered the weapons moratorium a major achievement in his North Korea policy.

Some experts North Korea's recent actions are an attempt to get an upper hand ahead of the possible resumption of talks. North Korea wants widespread sanctions relief so it can revive its dilapidated economy, but U.S. officials are pushing the country to take significant disarmament steps before they give up the leverage provided by the sanctions.

A senior U.S. official said the Trump administration was aware of the reports of a short-range projectile launched from North Korea. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide a response, said the administration had no further comment at this time.

South Korean Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyunsoo urged Pyongyang to stop acts that are "not helpful to efforts to ease military tensions on the Korean Peninsula."

If North Korea fired ballistic missiles, it could have ramifications because U.N. Security Council resolutions ban the North from engaging in any launch using ballistic technology. Still, the U.N. Security Council has typically imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea only when it conducted long-range ballistic missile tests.

"If they were ballistic missiles, they violate the U.N. sanctions, and I find it extremely regrettable," Japan's Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters in Tokyo.

It was the first such launch since Seoul said North Korea fired three short-range missiles off its east coast in early May. Many experts said at the time that those missiles bore a strong resemblance to the Russian-designed Iskander, a short-range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile that has been in the Russian arsenal for more than a decade.

South Korea's military said it and the U.S. military were analyzing details of Thursday's launches. South Korea said it was monitoring possible additional launches by North Korea.

During a third summit at the Korean border late last month, Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to resume nuclear negotiations, which had been deadlocked since their second summit in Vietnam in February ended without an agreement because of disputes over U.S.-led sanctions.

Both the launches in May and on Thursday won't end that weapons test moratorium, which applies to firing intercontinental ballistic missiles.

On Tuesday, North Korean state media said Kim inspected a newly built submarine and ordered officials to further bolster the country's military capabilities. The Korean Central News Agency said the submarine's operational deployment "is near at hand."

After analyzing North Korea-dispatched photos of the submarine, experts said the submarine likely has three launch tubes for missiles. South Korean government documents say North Korea has about 70 submarines, but analysts say they mostly have a single launch tube.

The construction of such a new submarine suggests North Korea has been increasing its military capability despite nuclear diplomacy that it began with the United States early last year.

The latest launches came amid a recent flare-up of tensions on the Korean Peninsula after South Korean fighter jets on Tuesday fired hundreds of warning shots to repel a Russian reconnaissance plane that Seoul says violated its airspace. Before that alleged intrusion, Seoul said Russian and Chinese warplanes including the reconnaissance aircraft made an extremely unusual joint entrance into South Korea's air defense identification zone, prompting South Korean military jets to scramble.

Russia and China have said they carried out their first joint patrol in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan but said none of their planes violated South Korea's airspace. Experts say the joint patrol may have been aimed at testing readiness of trilateral security cooperation among the United States, South Korea and Japan.

Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann in Washington and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
South Korean fighter jets fire warning shots at three Russian planes as a reaction to an alleged violation of the country's national airspace.