Seoul: South Korea's defense ministry called in Russia's defense attache in Seoul on Thursday to protest the entry of Russian warplanes into Seoul's air defense identification zone (KADIZ) for the eighth time in 10 days. Earlier in the day, multiple Russian military aircraft entered the KADIZ over the East Sea, flying as close as 20 kilometers to South Korea's airspace without responding to Seoul's communication attempts.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean military scrambled its fighter jets in response to the incursion. This incident marked the eighth time since March 11 that Russian warplanes had entered the KADIZ without prior notice. The defense ministry stated that they summoned Col. Nikolai Marchenko, a military attache at the Russian Embassy in Seoul, to protest the persistent incursions and to urge preventative measures to avoid future incidents.

The air defense zone, while not considered territorial airspace, is established to prompt foreign aircraft to identify themselves to prevent accidental clashes. The latest entry into the KADIZ comes only days after a similar incident on Saturday when multiple Russian warplanes entered the zone during air drills, as reported by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.