Seoul: U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) and Chinese fighter jets were engaged in a brief aerial standoff over the Yellow Sea earlier this week as a rare U.S. Air Force exercise prompted the Chinese military to deploy its own fighter jets in response, sources revealed on Friday. Several F-16 fighter jets from USFK took off from Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, situated approximately 60 kilometers south of Seoul, late Wednesday and flew over international waters in the Yellow Sea, as reported by military sources.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the F-16s maneuvered to an area between the air defense identification zones of South Korea and China, triggering the Chinese military to send its fighter jets to the area. Despite the heightened tensions, no clash occurred between the two forces. The USFK had informed the South Korean military about its exercise plans but reportedly did not provide details regarding the purpose of the drills.

Both the defense ministry in Seoul and the USFK refrained from offering additional details regarding the incident. A ministry official stated, "The USFK, alongside our military, maintains a powerful combined defense posture," while noting that the ministry cannot authenticate military operations involving USFK assets. The USFK also did not offer any comments on the situation.

This recent exercise takes place amid ongoing speculation that Washington might seek to redefine the role of the USFK, focusing on countering Chinese threats and encouraging allies to assume greater security responsibilities. The U.S. National Defense Strategy, released last month, indicated a potential shift in U.S. force posture in South Korea. It suggested that South Korea is capable of assuming "primary" responsibility for deterring the North, with the U.S. providing "critical, but more limited" support, aligning with America's interest in "updating" its force posture on the Korean Peninsula.

USFK Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson has emphasized the need for "flexibility" within the USFK, introducing a map that positions the east at the top rather than the traditional north-up orientation. "Forces already positioned on the Korean Peninsula are revealed not as distant assets requiring reinforcement, but as troops already positioned inside the bubble perimeter that the U.S. would need to penetrate in the event of crisis or contingency," he explained while presenting the map on Nov. 17 last year.