Russian officials have called for an investigation over claims that one of its military planes violated South Korean airspace.
Seoul said South Korean fighter jets fired 360 rounds of warning shots to drive away a Russian reconnaissance plane which entered its airspace off South Korea’s east coast twice on Tuesday during a joint patrol with Chinese bombers.
Yoon Sang-hyun, chairman of the South Korean parliament’s foreign affairs committee, quoted Russia’s acting ambassador Maxim Volkov as telling him that Russia feels “regret” over the incident.
Mr Yoon cited Mr Volkov as saying Russia thinks an investigation is necessary and has requested related information from South Korea.
Russia said two of its bombers were on a routine flight over neutral waters and did not violate South Korea’s airspace.
Russia’s defence ministry also denied that South Korean jets fired warning shots, though it did say they flew close to the Russian planes in “unprofessional manoeuvres”.
South Korea said it was the first time a foreign military plane had violated its airspace since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The foreign and defence ministries summoned Mr Volkov and Russia’s deputy military attache in South Korea, Nikolai Marchenko, to register their complaints.
They also summoned China’s ambassador and the defence attache to protest against Beijing’s overflight.
https://www.itv.com/news/2019-07-24/russia-calls-for-investigation-over-south-korean-airspace-violation-claims/