South Korea Scrambles Jets as Chinese, Russia Warplanes Near

South Korea deployed military aircraft after seven Russian warplanes and two Chinese aircraft entered an air identification zone maintained by Seoul, escalating tensions in a region already strained by an ongoing diplomatic rift between Beijing and Tokyo.

The planes entered and exited the air zone, known as KADIZ, above waters off the Korean peninsula’s eastern and southern coasts on Tuesday and did not violate South Korea’s territorial air space, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.