Then-Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, right, shakes hands with then-South Korean counterpart Lee Jong-sup ahead of their talks in Singapore in June last year.
15:12 JST, May 20, 2024
The Japanese and South Korean governments have begun talks to resume bilateral defense exchanges, which have been effectively suspended following the incident in which a South Korean naval ship aimed its fire control radar at a Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane in 2018, it has been learned.
The two sides are arranging a defense ministers’ meeting on the sidelines of the Asian Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, to be held in Singapore from May 31 to June 2. Ministers are expected to agree on measures to prevent the recurrence of a similar incident and promote mutual visits by ministers and other senior government officials, as well as senior officers in uniform.
Since the South Korean government of President Yoon Suk Yeol announced a proposal in March last year to resolve the issue of lawsuits involving former advanced workers from the Korean Peninsula, relations between the two countries have been tense both politically and economic area improved. -oriented ways of thinking. The two governments hope to put an end to the radar problem, which is the biggest barrier between defense authorities, and also normalize security ties.
The two governments are considering exchanging documents between the MSDF and the South Korean Navy to prevent recurrence of similar incidents, in conjunction with the Defense Ministerial Meeting. Based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), an international standard for avoiding collisions at sea, the two governments plan to reach an agreement on ensuring freedom of flight and navigation and safety on the high seas, as well as thorough communications when the two The ships and aircraft from the sides approach at close range.
The two countries’ claims about the radar problem are contradictory, with South Korea denying the direction of the radar and the MSDF aircraft approaching at an abnormal distance from the South Korean Navy ship. The defense authorities of the two governments held a series of working-level talks. However, when the South Korean side maintained its denial and suspended working-level talks in January 2019, high-level exchanges between defense authorities were disrupted and concerns arose about the impact on policy coordination and crisis management between the two countries.
Regarding responses to North Korea-related issues, security cooperation between Japan, the United States and South Korea is making progress. However, it is also essential to strengthen cooperation between Japan and South Korea, which serves as the basis for such efforts.
As the security environment in East Asia becomes increasingly harsh, Tokyo and Seoul have concluded that disagreement between the two countries, which share a common interest in maintaining regional stability, would benefit North Korea. The two countries will use the resumption of defense exchanges as an opportunity to rebuild trust between their armed forces, including holding joint bilateral defense exercises.
The two governments are also in talks to hold a Japan-South Korea summit on the sidelines of a trilateral Japan-China-South Korea summit to be held in Seoul later this month. The two governments intend to reaffirm the importance of promoting security cooperation at the highest levels.
