By Zachary Keck
In defiance of Beijing’s new ADIZ, South Korea’s Navy conduct air and sea drills near Ieodo Rock.
On Tuesday, the South Korean navy launched an air and sea military exercise in the area that China recently claimed as part of its East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
On Wednesday, the Korea Joongang Daily reported that, “The Korean Navy yesterday launched a joint sea and air military drill near the waters surrounding Ieodo” Rock. The report said the drill consisted of two P-3C maritime patrol aircraft as well as one of the ROK Navy’s three Aegis destroyers.
The destroyer reportedly anchored around 200 meters from Ieodo, which both South Korea and China claim but Seoul administers. The Korea Joongang Daily report also said that the two P-3Cs, which are used in anti-submarine operations as well as for maritime surveillance, crossed into Japan’s ADIZ with the prior approval of Tokyo.
This fact suggests that South Korea and Japan are boosting their cooperation in the wake of China unilaterally declaring the East China Sea ADIZ two weekends ago. Seoul and Tokyo have long been at odds over their own territorial dispute as well as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s comments about Japan’s actions in the region during the first half of the 20th Century.
South Korea was undoubtedly seeking to send a strong signal to Beijing by notifying Japan that its military aircraft would be crossing into its ADIZ, despite Seoul refusing to identify its aircraft to Beijing.
Read the full story at The Diplomat