South Korea deployed fighter jets on Tuesday after seven Russian and two Chinese military aircraft entered and exited its Air Defence Identification Zone, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
An earlier report had said 11 planes had entered the air defence zone. The planes remained in the KADIZ for about an hour off the country's east and south coasts and did not breach territorial airspace.
Seoul identified the aircraft and launched its own fighters as a precaution. Joint Russian-Chinese flights around the Korean Peninsula have become routine, typically occurring once or twice a year.