In yet another chapter in the soap opera of rising tensions in Asia, the South Korean Air Force (ROKAF) dispatched 30 fighter jets against another 12 from neighboring North Korea on Thursday afternoon (4). The planes approached the border after days of missile tests and weapons deployments by Pyongyang. 

A group of eight fighters and four bombers from the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force (KPAAF) flew in formation near the border between the two countries.

According to the agency Yonhap, which does not identify the aircraft involved, the flight was a demonstration of the use of air-to-ground weapons. In response, the ROKAF sent twice as large a force to the region, which included the presence of the F-15K Slam Eagle multi-mission fighter-bombers. 

the american The War Zone says the trigger for the potent South Korean reaction was the fact that aircraft from the north would have crossed the so-called "Special Reconnaissance Line", a boundary established by Seoul north of the Military Demarcation Line, the land border between Korea North and South Korea, which passes more or less through the center of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

This logically added to the recent North Korean ballistic missile firings, one of which flew over Japan on a record-breaking flight into the communist country. The South Koreans responded with exercises alongside the United States, using smart bombs and real missiles. 

Although North Korea has a number of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, the military is generally considered obsolete. The Air Force itself is an example of this, with the spearhead being formed by old MiG-29 Fulcrum alongside jets. MiG-21 Fishbed, MiG-23 Flogger, Su-25 Frogfoot and other aircraft from the 1950s to the 1970s.

The ROKAF, on the other hand, has the modern F-35 (which became a source of controversy this week) operating in conjunction with the KF-16 and F-15K, completed by the older F-4 and F-5, which will later be replaced by the KF-21 Boramae.