South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it has punished about 10 people over an air force transport aircraft’s unauthorized entry into the Japanese air defense identification zone in July.
On July 13, the plane made a detour as it headed to the U.S. territory of Guam to participate in a multinational drill, because it had not obtained permission to enter Japanese airspace, according to South Korean media reports and other sources.
Also due to bad weather, the aircraft consumed more fuel than planned. It made an emergency landing at the U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture.
Before the landing, the plane informed the Japanese air traffic control center that it would make a precautionary landing due to concern that it might run out of fuel.
But the center did not understand the meaning, and the plane entered the ADIZ without notification, prompting a scramble by the Air Self-Defense Force.
The landing was permitted eventually, after the transport aircraft followed a request from the center that it send a distress signal.
South Korean media reports said that the incident resulted from the aircraft’s failure to obtain prior permission for airspace passage and communication problems with the control center.
