Russia under fire for denying 'apparent' aerial violation

Russian Deputy Military Attache Nikolai Marchenko and Assistant of the Military Attache Sergey A. Balazhigitov leave the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, after working-level talks with Korean officials, Thursday. Yonhap

By Do Je-hae

Controversy is intensifying over Russia's inconsistent explanation on the recent violation of Korean airspace.

Since a Russian aircraft entered the airspace over Korea's Dokdo during a joint Russia-China air patrol Tuesday, the country's officials have issued differing positions, triggering confusion in the media about whether or not the Russian government admitted to the violation of Korea's sovereign airspace.

Amid the clash over what Seoul sees as an apparent airspace violation, the two sides held working-level talks at Korea's Ministry of National Defense Thursday.

“We presented to Russia materials that can confirm the intrusion of our airspace and provided a detailed explanation about them. The Russian side said that they will deliver them to their defense ministry for urgent reference in their ongoing investigation” the ministry said in a statement. The Thursday meeting was led by Lee Won-ik, director general of international policy at the defense ministry.

The controversy over Russia's changing positions started when Yoon Do-han, senior presidential secretary for public communication, belatedly unveiled during a press conference at Cheong Wa Dae Wednesday the details of a visit a day earlier by Nikolai Marchenko, deputy military attache from the Russian Embassy, to the defense ministry following the aerial violation.

According to Yoon, the Russian official explained that the military aircraft had entered an unplanned area due to a technical malfunction and that it was not intentional. But later, the same day as the press briefing, the defense ministry said Moscow issued a statement to South Korea denying any violation of sovereign territory by its planes and blamed the Korean fighter jets for being “unprofessional.”

This was seen as a departure from the messages delivered by the presidential office from the military attache, which included an expression of “deep regret,” according to Yoon. In addition, the Russian attache said his country wanted to improve relations with Korea regardless of the incident. The remarks appeared to give the impression that the Russian side had virtually apologized for the incident, which marks the first aerial intrusion by a foreign plane since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Moscow flatly denied any violation of Korea's sovereign airspace and even threatened Korea in a message delivered by Yoon Wednesday evening at Cheong Wa Dae. “In the statement, Russia said that their military planes flew strictly in accordance with international regulations and warned of countermeasures against the Korean Air Force if similar flights are repeated,” Yoon said. South Korea fired flares and warning shots near the Russian warplane.

The Russian Embassy in Seoul refuted Thursday the contents of Yoon's press conference, reiterating that it had not admitted to the aerial violation in a Twitter post.

“We have noted media reports quoting Yoon saying that Russia officially expressed regret over the incident caused by a technical glitch in a Russian warplane on July 23,” the embassy said. “Our position is different from the above claim. We have not confirmed that a Russian warplane intruded on Korean airspace.”

The embassy said it will deliver its final position in accordance with due procedures following an investigation into the overall circumstances.

Russian Embassy spokesman Dmitry Bannikov also confirmed that the Russian side had not issued an official apology, according to a report by the news agency Interfax.

After Yoon's press conference was refuted by the Russian side, Cheong Wa Dae came under fire for sending out incorrect information about Russia's apology. In particular, it was criticized for unveiling remarks of a military official from the Russian Embassy without thoroughly checking the official position from Moscow.