Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ajosshi]

SK scrambles F-15s to intercept Japanese helo near Dokdo

MSDF chopper flying near disputed islets prompted military response

SEOUL � A Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter flew close on Sept. 21 to the South Korean-controlled islets claimed by Japan, prompting South Korea to mobilize fighter jets, according to TV broadcaster KBS.

The chopper left the area after being warned away by the South Korean military, KBS reported Thursday.

The MSDF confirmed Friday that one of its helicopters entered the area while conducting a takeoff and landing drill on a destroyer positioned some 50 km east of the disputed islets in the Sea of Japan known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea.

Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto also said Friday that he saw no problems with the drill under international law because the incident occurred on the high seas.

KBS reported that in the early evening of Sept. 21, after the MSDF destroyer Ariake had approached a point 54 km from the disputed islets, a helicopter took off from the vessel and entered without authorization what Seoul considers to be the "Korea Air Defense Identification Zone."

South Korea insists that foreign airplanes and ships get approval from its military before entering the zone, which was designated by the commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Force Command in 1951 to prevent air clashes between nations surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

After four South Korean F-15K fighters reached the scene and Japan was warned through a hot line that the helicopter was violating South Korean airspace, the chopper reversed direction but remained in the zone for an additional five minutes, KBS said, citing documents submitted by the South Koream Defense Ministry to a parliamentary committee on defense.

Morimoto said the chopper "didn't approach the Takeshima Islands" and there was no warning issued by the South Korean fighters, though Seoul did inquire about the purpose of the helicopter movement.

He said no protest was lodged through diplomatic channels.

According to the MSDF, a South Korean P-3C patrol aircraft made radio contact with the Ariake for confirmation of intension and the destroyer responded that it was undertaking a drill and would head north. The chopper drill continued after the radio contact, it said.

The MSDF said the takeoff and landing maneuver aboard the vessel continued for about an hour from 6 p.m. . The destroyer was on its way from the Sasebo naval base in Nagasaki Prefecture to the Vladivostok area for a joint search and rescue drill with Russia, it said.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a military source as saying that besides the F-15K fighter jets, the South Korean military also dispatched a destroyer to the area.

"The Japanese destroyer moved back to its planned route after communication with our side," the source was quoted as saying, adding that it told South Korea's military it "was sailing toward Vladivostok for a training mission and had no hostile intention."

The South Korean Defense Ministry documents also cited an intrusion by a Japan Coast Guard chopper into South Korea's air defense zone close to the disputed islets in May.

Japan has been flying a coast guard helicopter once or twice every year in a demonstration of force, according to the documents.

Japan blasts media tour
Kyodo

The government has filed a protest with Seoul for allowing foreign media organizations to visit the South Korean-controlled islands claimed by Japan, Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba said Friday.

"We've already lodged a protest because the move is inconsistent with our country's position," Genba said.

Japan regards the two Sea of Japan islets, called Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, as an inherent part of its territory.

The protest was lodged by the Japanese Embassy with the South Korean Foreign Ministry on Thursday, officials said.

By letting crews from overseas media outlets including CNN and the BBC to land on the islets Thursday, South Korea apparently sought to promote its claims to the outcroppings.

Bilateral ties have worsened since Lee Myung Bak became in August the first South Korean president to visit the islets.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121006a3.html

[newb]

[Drew10]

4 jet fighters and a destroyer navy ship?

Ridiculous.

[young_clinton]

[visitorq]

Sensationalist claptrap.

[bucheon bum]

[Zackback]

Korea will respond with an overwhelming show of force to demonstrate to any trespassers the seriousness of their violation of Korean sovereignty.
What they were tolerant of before will not be allowed any longer.

[visitorq]

[JustinC]

Are there any elections coming up? If Argentina can make the idiots in its population excited just before an election there's no reason Japan can't.

[bucheon bum]

[Steelrails]

[jvalmer]

[visitorq]

[visitorq]

[bucheon bum]

I do believe Japan has the 2nd largest navy in the world. How big is Korea's? I doubt it is even close to the same size.