A series of Russian and Chinese aircraft entered the Korean air defense identification zone

The Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) today said that Chinese and Russian military aircraft had respectively entered and left the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the eastern and southern waters of the country.

JCS announced that it had detected Russian and Chinese aircraft before they entered the Korean ADIZ, and deployed fighters to “be ready to respond to all situations”.

The statement did not provide details about the surveillance activities, only confirming that Russian and Chinese aircraft did not violate Korean airspace.

China’s Ministry of National Defense confirmed that Beijing and Moscow conducted “strategic air patrols” in the Sea of ​​Japan, the East China Sea and the Western Pacific region.

Chinese officials described this activity as “demonstrating determination and capacity to jointly maintain peace and stability in the region”, without mentioning the Korean ADIZ.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has not commented on the information.

ADIZ is not airspace, but an airspace determined by a country and requires all aircraft entering this area to report and be under the control of that country. The purpose of an ADIZ is to provide an early warning system to help detect possible incursions in airspace.

Aircraft passing through a country’s ADIZ must comply with general requirements such as submitting flight routes in advance, establishing two-way communication with the managing country, reporting positions, and complying with flight corridors prescribed by that country.

If foreign aircraft do not comply when operating in the ADIZ, the host country can deploy fighters to intervene, request identification or be forced to leave the area. Because the ADIZ is not airspace, the host country is not allowed to shoot down aircraft operating in this area.

This is not the first time Russian and Chinese military aircraft entered the Korean ADIZ together. In December 2025, South Korea and Japan reacted strongly when 9 Russian-Chinese military aircraft performed a similar “joint patrol” operation.

South Korea’s Ministry of Defense then sent a note of protest to Russia and China, while Japan expressed “serious concerns” about national security.

Russia and China affirmed that the flights were within the framework of joint security activities in the Sea of ​​Japan and the Western Pacific region.