Japan lodged protest with South Korea, Russia after jet incident: Suga

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese government has lodged a protest against South Korea and Russia after South Korean warplanes fired hundreds of warning shots at a Russian military aircraft on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

“In light of Japan's stance regarding sovereignty over Takeshima, the South Korean military aircraft's having carried out warning shots is totally unacceptable and extremely regrettable,” the top government spokesman said, referring to

the island claimed by both Japan and South Korea, which calls it Dokdo.

“We lodged a stern protest with South Korea and firmly demanded the prevention of a recurrence,” he told a regular news conference, when asked specifically about Tokyo's protest against South Korea.

Two Russian bombers and two Chinese bombers entered the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ) together early on Tuesday, South Korea's defense ministry said.

A separate Russian early warning and control aircraft later twice violated South Korean airspace over the disputed island just after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT Monday), according to the South Korean military.