S. Korean instructs airlines not to comply with China air zone rules

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131202p2g00m0in003000c.html

SEOUL (Kyodo) -- The South Korean government has instructed the country's airlines to not notify Chinese authorities of flight plans when traveling through Beijing's newly declared air defense zone over the East China Sea, a government official said Sunday.

The government has already made known its stance of not recognizing the new zone, which partially overlaps with South Korea's, and the country's military has even flown military planes through the zone without notifying China.

By instructing its airlines to not comply with China's new rules requiring advance submission of flight plans for aircraft entering the zone similarly to Japan, South Korea is indicating anew that it does not accept the Chinese assertions.

Upon receiving the notification, South Korean airlines then consulted with the transport ministry on how to deal with the new requirement. The ministry is said to have sought that the airlines follow the "preexisting stance" of not submitting flight plans beforehand.

For this reason, the airlines are continuing to fly through the zone without notifying China, and there has apparently been no response from the Chinese side.