Sunday, October 7, 2012

South Korean F-15s intercept Japanese Seahawk over disputed islands

Just to remind us that the Asia Pacific has more maritime disputes than just the Spratly/Paracel and the Senkaku (or Diaoyu, depending on who you agree with) Islands. South Korea recently scrambled four F-15Ks to intercept a Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) SH-60 Seahawk helicopter which flew into South Korea's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and approached within 54km of the disputed Dokdo/Takeshima islands.

The Seahawk was from the Murasame-class destroyer JS Ariake (DD-109), which was on its way from the Sasebo naval base in Nagasaki Prefecture to the Vladivostok area for a joint search and rescue drill with Russia.

Dokdo (South Korean name)/Takeshima (Japanese) are a group of small islets in the Sea of Japan (East Sea). Sovereignty over the islets is disputed between Japan and South Korea.

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