In 2018, there was an incident in the East China Sea where a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force drone flew low and threatened our warships.
At the time, Japan claimed that our navy had pointed a fire radar at the Japanese aircraft and that it was a hostile act, and we countered that there was no radar targeting and that Japan should apologize for the threatening flight.
There were reports in Japan that South Korea was going to take a step back over the surveillance controversy, but our defense minister said that was not true.
Our correspondent in Tokyo, Young Jun Lee, reports.
◀ Report ▶
In December 2018, a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane flew low and threatened the South Korean warship Gwanggaeto, which was rescuing a North Korean ship in distress.
Japan strongly reacted by claiming that the ROK Navy aimed its radar at the ship, and the ROK military responded by saying that there was no radar aiming and that Japan should apologize for the threatening flight.
However, Japan’s Nihongeizai Shimbun reported that Japan and South Korea have reached a compromise after four and a half years.
South Korea has decided to rescind the so-called “Chogi Guidelines,” which were issued in February 2019, shortly after the Chogi incident.
The guidelines state that if a Japanese self-defense aircraft does not respond to communications after two warnings and flies too close, the South Korean military will aim its fire radar at it.
If the report is true, it’s a de facto concession by South Korea in the overflight controversy that has pitted South Korean and Japanese military authorities against each other for more than four years.
The Nihongeizai Shimbun reports that instead of withdrawing the early warning guidelines, Japan has decided not to ask South Korea to admit the facts, and that the issue will be discussed at a meeting of the defense ministers of Japan and South Korea in Singapore the following day.
In response to these reports, our defense minister stated that they are untrue.
[Rep. Bae Jin-kyo/Jungwoo Party (National Assembly Defense Committee)]
“There are reports in the Japanese media that the ROK military will withdraw the guidelines for first responder response. Has the position of the ROK Ministry of Defense changed in the meantime regarding first responder response메이저사이트?”
[Lee Jong-seop/Minister of Defense]
“The media reports are not true.”
In Japan, the Ukiyo-e controversy and the Chogye incident have been considered the biggest defense issues between Japan and South Korea.
Now that a Japanese warship flying the flag has arrived in Busan, and the only thing left is the Chogye incident, it will be interesting to see how the Korean government will respond.