Russian bombers appeared near the Korean peninsula and a small Chinese warship entered waters between South Korea and Japan during joint U.S. exercises with the South Korean military this week, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force found a Chinese naval frigate sailing in a northeastern direction about 130 kilometers southwest of the island at around 1 p.m. on Aug. 14, the Ministry of Defense’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force sent the Murakami-class destroyer Chunyu and a P-1 anti-submarine patrol aircraft to monitor Chinese warships, the defense ministry said.
According to Russia’s TASS news agency, the Russian military said that 18 Russian tu-95MS strategic bombers in the Sea of Japan over the neutral waters of regular flights, lasted about 9 hours, while the Far East Military Region Su-35 fighter aircraft provided escort.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the bombers’ flights were “pre-arranged” and that all flights were conducted in strict accordance with international airspace rules, with Russian long-range aircraft regularly flying over neutral waters in the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black Sea and Baltic Seas, as well as the Pacific Ocean.
But South Korean media “News 1” said that around the Russian military activities, in South Korea triggered speculation: is this related to the joint U.S.-South Korean exercises? Reported that the U.S.-South Korea annual command post training exercises began this week and will end on August 26, South Korea’s Joint Staff headquarters said, because of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, the training scaled down, only involving core personnel.
