South Korea Warns Russia: 360 Rounds Shots at Russian War-plane

South Korea warned Russia by shooting 360 rounds at the Russian warplane on Tuesday when the plane entered South Korean airspace.
Accusing South Korea of being reckless, Russian defence officials have denied violating the country’s airspace.
Before the Russian A-50 entered the country’s territorial sky, two Tu-95 bombers and one A-50 airborne entered the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone off its east coast together early.
South Korean F-15 and F-16 fighter jets then fired 10 flares and 80 rounds from machine guns as warning shots, said a ministry official.
“The South Korean military took tactical action including dropping flares and firing warning shots,” said the Defence Ministry statement.
The Russian reconnaissance plane left the area three minutes later. The South Korean jets then fired another round of warning shots when they returned later and violated South Korean airspace but the Russians did not fired back.
South Korean officials believe that it was a joint Russian-Chinese military exercise.
“(They) conduced unprofessional maneuvers by crossing the course of Russian strategic missile carriers, threatening their security,” said the Russian Defence Ministry.
The Russian planes had entered the South Korean airspace with two Chinese bombers. But it wasn’t immediately known whether the two countries deliberately did so.
Since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, it is the first time that a foreign military plane has violated South Korean airspace.
“It was not for the first time that South Korean pilots tried unsuccessfully to prevent Russian aircraft from flying over the neutral waters of the Sea of Japan,” said the ministry.
There has been no immediate public comment from Russian or Chinese officials.
> Puza Sarker Snigdha