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Fighter jets scrambled as 11 Russian and Chinese warplanes fly through South Korea’s air defense zone
South Korea’s military said Friday it scrambled fighter jets as five Chinese and six Russian military planes flew through its air defense zone, an area wider than the country’s airspace.
Five Chinese and six Russian military aircraft entered and exited the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone in the East Sea and South Sea from 9:35 am (0035 GMT) to 1:53 pm, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
But the planes crossed into the KADIZ “without violating South Korean airspace”, the JCS said, adding that the military “identified the aircraft before they entered KADIZ and deployed Air Force fighter jets to take tactical measures in preparation for any contingencies.”
An air defense identification zone is a broader area than a country’s airspace in which it tries to control aircraft for security reasons, but the concept is not defined in any international treaty.
China’s defense ministry called the flights “their ninth joint strategic patrol,” which occurred above the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea in South Korea.
It added in a post on its official social media account that the flights were held Friday “according to the annual cooperation plan between the Chinese and Russian militaries.”
South Korean military officials told local media that Chinese military aircraft flew towards the small Dokdo islands off South Korea’s eastern coast, after passing between the Korean peninsula and Japan near the contested submerged rock of Ieodo.
Russian planes also flew south towards the Dokdo islets, known as Takeshima in Japanese.
Officials said the Chinese and Russian aircraft flew together over the sea south of Dokdo before departing.
Since 2019, China and Russia have regularly flown military aircraft into South Korea’s air defense zone without prior notice, citing joint exercises.
U.S. Air Force/South Korea Defense Ministry via AP
Similar incidents occurred in June and December last year, and in May and November 2022, with Beijing and Moscow describing the flights as “joint strategic air patrols.”
South Korea’s defense ministry on Friday “expressed regret” to China and Russia over their military aircraft entering the South’s air defense zone and “flying for an extended period without prior notice,” according to a statement.
The ministry requested that “appropriate measures be taken to prevent a recurrence”, adding that such actions could “unnecessarily heighten tensions in the region.”
China and Russia have expanded military and defense ties since Moscow ordered troops into Ukraine nearly three years ago.
Both are also traditional allies of North Korea, Seoul’s arch-foe.
South Korea and the United States have accused nuclear-armed North Korea of sending thousands of soldiers to Russia to fight in Ukraine and this month Pyongyang ratified a landmark defense pact with Moscow.
The South Korean jets being scrambled marks the latest incident involving Russian and Chinese militaries in recent months.
Earlier this month, Italy and Norway mobilized jets after Russian aircraft were spotted over the Baltic Sea and along the Norwegian coast.
In September, Japan said its warplanes used flares to warn a Russian reconnaissance aircraft to leave northern Japanese airspace.
That same month, the U.S. military moved about 130 soldiers along with mobile rocket launchers to a desolate island in the Aleutian chain of western Alaska amid a recent increase in Russian military planes and vessels approaching American territory. Eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, have come close to Alaska in recent days as Russia and China conducted joint military drills.
In July, two Russian Tu-95s and two Chinese H-6s entered the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, NORAD said. The bombers were intercepted by U.S. F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, along with Canadian CF-18s and other support aircraft, a U.S. defense official confirmed to CBS News.
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OAK PARK, Ill. (CBS) — An Oak Park police officer was shot and killed Friday morning while responding to a report of a man with a gun leaving a bank. The suspect also was shot by police, and has been taken into custody.
Oak Park Police Chief Shatonya Johnson said Detective Allan Reddins, 40, had been with the Oak Park Police Department since May 2019. He was the first Oak Park officer killed in the line of duty since 1938.
“This is the worst day of any chief of police,” Johnson said. “Our police department, we’re hurting right now. I’m hurting. His family is hurting. Please keep us in your prayers.”
Around 9 a.m., Reddins responded to a call of a man with a gun leaving the Chase Bank in the 1000 block of Lake Street, according to Johnson. Reddins and other officers came across the suspect in the 800 block of Lake Street, and told the man to show them his hands.
The gunman brandished a handgun and shot Reddins in the left side. Officers returned fire, shooting the suspect in the leg.
Reddins was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead at 10:10 a.m. The suspect also was being treated at Loyola.
The shooting caught people in Oak Park off guard, and left bullet holes in the windows at the village’s main library, which was closed to the public after the shooting.
A witness said she was at the UPS store nearby when she heard someone storm out of a store and then heard what sounded like gunshots.
“I knew it was gunshots. I didn’t want to believe that,” she said.
Nicholas Gradishar said us he was walking to a friend’s house nearby when he heard gunshots.
“I get down after I hear the shots, and then I come to the library to see it littered with cops,” he said.
Gradishar said he saw police take the suspect into custody after he’d been shot.
“They were checking his pockets. They found a little handgun, but off to the side there was an ARP with a flashlight. So I don’t know which one he used to shoot at the cops, but he had multiple guns on him,” he said.
Gradishar recorded footage of the suspect on the ground with a gun nearby. Moments later, parademics took him away on a stretcher.
“Nothing happens up here. You may find a fight or so, but nothing like this will ever happen here. So it’s wild,” he said.
A police procession took Reddins’ body from the hospital to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office Friday afternoon. Dozens of police officers and firefighters from Chicago, Oak Park, and other suburbs stood at attention and saluted as the ambulance arrived and Reddins’ body was escorted inside.
Johnson said Reddins leaves behind a 19-year-old son, along with his mother and siblings.
The chief described him as a “natural-born leader, devoted father,” saying she personally conducted Reddins’ background check before hiring him as an officer in 2019.
“I quickly identified that he had a talent that was needed here,” she said. “He closed substantial cases, and helped us to resolve countless incidents. He was a natural,”
Before joining the Oak Park Police Department, Reddins also had served with the Metra Police Department. He’d been a detective in Oak Park since 2022.
“I thought he would make a phenomenal field training officer as well, and I was looking very much forward to him becoming a sergeant. He was just a natural leader,” Johnson said. “He would always take the extra step, go the extra step, and that’s huge, to say what else can be done?”
Investigation into the incident was ongoing Friday evening. Johnson declined to say if the shooting was captured on video, but said Oak Park officers are equipped with body cameras.
Information on Reddins’ funeral arrangements will be posted on the Oak Park village website once they have been made.
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