JAKARTA - A group of South Korean Cold War-era fighters made their last flight earlier this month, ahead of retiring next month, after more than five decades of service.
Four F-4 Phantom II supersonic combat bombers took off from their base in Suwon, just south of Seoul, for a warning flight by reporters on Thursday, retracing the 55-year history of guarding South Korea's airspace.
The first batch of US-made jets arrived in South Korea in 1969, which was a major boost to the Air Force seeking to upgrade its aircraft fleet, to face the threat posed by Soviet-made North Korean fighter jets amid two Korea's fierce rivalry.
More than half a century later, Phantom will fully retire from service on June 7, handing over sky defense operations to new generation aircraft.
During the farewell flight, the jets first headed south over an air base in central Cheongju City, home to the plane from 1979 to 2018, which now operates the latest US-made F-35A stealth fighter.
One Phantom is painted with a forest camouflage pattern and the other with a light gray color to reflect their paint work in the past, while the other two are painted in the old gray today.
Turning to the east coast, the jets revisited the airspace where the Phantom was deployed to intercept Soviet heavy bombers in 1983. The aircraft was also mobilized to respond to Soviet bomber attacks and nuclear submarines in the region the following year.
They then landed at an air base in the southeast of Daegu City to refuel, where the country first received the jets in a move that marked a major change in the balance of air power between the two Koreas.
The shipment comes just a year after a failed assassination attempt by North Korean commandos against President Park Chung-hee in 1968, raising the need to increase military capabilities in order to better fend off North Korea's threats.
After refueling in Daegu, Phantom traveled to the southern city of Sacheon, home to the country's only fighter jet manufacturer, Korea Aerospace Industries, where they flew briefly with two prototype KF-21 jets.
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Subsequently, the jet flew along the west coast, where Phantom took part in a mission to sink North Korea's spy ship in 1971, before returning to Suwon.
It is known that the South Korean Air Force once operated around 220 Phantoms. Recently, the majority have been retired with only about 10 units remaining in service.
Ginseng Country is one of a handful of countries that still operates F-4. Meanwhile, Uncle Sam's country retired the plane in 1996.
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