A Chinese military plane violated South Korea's air defense identification zone(KADIZ) on Thursday. 

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) said the aircraft entered the zone on three separate occasions throughout the day, once near Jeju Island and twice in the East Sea. 

The first encroachment was recorded to come from an area northwest of Jeju at 10:51 a.m. The Chinese military plane was then seen breaching the zone from airspace southeast of Pohang in North Gyeongsang Province to move onto Gangneung in Gangwon Province before heading out of the area at 3 p.m. 

The JCS said the South Korean Air Force scrambled fighter jets to track down the Chinese plane and issued warning broadcasts per established guidelines. It added the plane did not enter into South Korea’s airspace. 

The South Korean government lodged a strong protest over the issue. 

It is the first KADIZ violation by a Chinese military plane in about a month. The last breach was on November 26th.