In a major step in restoring bilateral defense and security cooperation, Japan and South Korea agreed Saturday to resume defense exchanges and take measures to prevent a repeat of a 2018 incident involving a South Korean warship pointed its fire control radar at a maritime self-defense radar. Defense Force patrol plane.
At a meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue regional security conference in Singapore, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and his South Korean counterpart Shin Won-sik agreed to revive dialogue between the countries’ defense authorities, as the two sides look to rebuild ties and put aside long-standing political differences – at least for now – to focus on mutual security concerns.
More specifically, the neighboring countries agreed to discuss holding annual vice-ministerial defense talks, resuming working-level defense dialogues and restoring high-level exchanges between the Self-Defense Forces and the South Korean military.
