Tokyo Protests to Seoul, Moscow over Air Incident near Takeshima

Tokyo, July 23 (Jiji Press)--Japan strongly protested to South Korea and Russia over an incident involving a Russian military airplane and South Korean fighter jets near the Sea of Japan islands of Takeshima on Tuesday.

The Russian A-50 airborne warning and control system, or AWACS, aircraft entered airspace over the Shimane Prefecture islands controlled by South Korea, where the disputed islets are called Dokdo, in the morning.

South Korean fighter jets responded by firing hundreds of warning shots, the country's National Defense Ministry said, adding that the intrusions lasted a total of seven minutes.

The Japanese protests were lodged with both countries through diplomatic channels, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

"The Russian military plane that flew above the Sea of Japan violated Japanese airspace twice near Takeshima," Suga told a press conference.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]