Anchor: Military officials from South Korea and Russia are holding a two-day discussion on setting up a military hotline to prevent accidental skirmishes following a series of incidents where Russian aircraft violated Seoul's air defense identification zone.
Choi You Sun has the details.

Report: South Korea and Russia convened an annual meeting of their joint military committee on Wednesday to discuss the establishment of a military hotline as a means to prevent accidental clashes within the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone(KADIZ).

The two-day closed-door meeting in Seoul comes after the two countries drafted a memorandum of understanding on the hotline last November in order to exchange flight information.

Follow-up discussions were on hold until Seoul made a diplomatic protest over a Russian warplane that violated South Korean airspace in July.

Although Russia has repeatedly entered the KADIZ, it was the first time it trespassed into South Korean airspace.

An air defense identification zone is airspace over land or water in which the identification, location and control of aircraft is performed in the interest of national security. 

Dozens of countries, including South Korea, the United States, China and Japan have designated such zones, which are not bound by international laws.

The talks in Seoul also come a day after six Russian military aircraft entered the KADIZ four times over waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula, prompting the South Korean Air Force to mobilize fighter jets to turn them back.

Seoul strongly protested the incident on Tuesday, demanding Moscow prevent a recurrence.

Moscow, which doesn't recognize air defense identification zones, claimed its planes were conducting regular flights in strict compliance with international rules.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.