Japan and South Korea put aside dispute over ‘radar lock-on’ for better relations

SINGAPORE – Japan and South Korea have taken steps to prevent a repeat of the highly explosive incident between their militaries in 2018 that led to a standoff over defense supplies.

Japan complained at the time that a destroyer of the South Korean Navy‘s fire control radar system detected a Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol aircraft in the Sea of ​​Japan.

The aiming is seen as a possible prelude to opening fire.

South Korea denied Japan’s claim and instead accused the MSDF aircraft of flying at dangerously low altitudes near the destroyer.

“A repetition of the fire control radar targeting incident will be prevented (from now on),” Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters after meeting with his South Korean counterpart Shin Won-sik on June 1. “Based on the results of today’s meeting, we will revive Japan-South Korea defense cooperation and exchanges.”

At the meeting, both sides resolved their differences over the incident in order to overcome the deadlock in defense cooperation.

They agreed to ensure smooth communication to avoid such tense situations between the MSDF and the South Korean Navy in the future.

In a prepared document, the MSDF chief of staff and the South Korean chief of naval operations agreed that the two countries will abide by the Code of Conduct for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, a multilateral agreement to which both Japan and South Korea are parties.

The Code of Conduct includes, among other things, rules on maintaining a safe distance between warships and aircraft and the need to take into account the possible consequences of a ship or aircraft being detected by the fire control radar system.

The bilateral document also states that the MSDF and the South Korean Navy will seek better communication using their telecommunications channels.

However, the document did not address the circumstances of the 2018 incident, over which the two countries remain at odds.

At the meeting, Japan and South Korea also agreed to organize annual talks between their vice defense ministers, resume working-level dialogue between defense officials, and resume high-level exchanges between the SDF and South Korean armed forces.

In June last year, Japan and South Korea held their first defense ministers’ meeting in about three and a half years and agreed to speed up talks on measures to prevent a repeat of the 2018 incident.

Kihara and Shin met on the sidelines of the Asian Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, organized by the Britain-based International Institute for Strategic Studies and supported by the Asahi Shimbun and other organizations.