[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Will the Korea-Japan Patrol Aircraft Tangle Be Untangled This Time?

Possibility of Next Month's South Korea-Japan Defense Ministers Meeting

The defense ministers of South Korea and Japan are expected to hold talks in early next month. The last time the South Korea-Japan defense ministers met was in November 2019, when Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and Defense Minister Kono Taro met in Thailand.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to a Ministry of Defense official on the 8th, the South Korea-Japan authorities are expected to hold a defense ministerial meeting during the Asia Security Conference (commonly known as the Shangri-La Dialogue) held in Singapore from the 2nd to the 4th of next month. Since President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio agreed on expanding all-round cooperation through the development of South Korea-Japan relations at the summit held the day before, a high-level meeting between defense authorities for follow-up discussions could be a natural step.

In particular, if the leaders of South Korea, the United States, and Japan meet at the Group of Seven (G7) summit to be held in Hiroshima, Japan, from the 19th to the 21st, the improvement of bilateral relations could get on track. The Shangri-La Dialogue is expected to be attended by defense chiefs of major countries including the United States, China, and Japan.

However, there is interest in how the two countries will resolve the sensitive "patrol aircraft conflict." The South Korea-Japan patrol aircraft conflict was triggered on December 20, 2018, when the ROK Navy's Gwanggaeto the Great-class destroyer, searching for a North Korean fishing boat that had been shipwrecked in the East Sea, was alleged by Japan to have targeted the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force P1 patrol aircraft flying near the ship with a fire-control radar.

At that time, Japan released a video filmed inside the patrol aircraft as evidence, while South Korea denied any radar targeting and instead claimed that the patrol aircraft flew low in a threatening manner near the Gwanggaeto the Great-class destroyer. The positions of both sides have remained parallel to this day, and exchanges between defense authorities have been suspended as a result.

Some expect that at the Shangri-La Dialogue, talks will be coordinated not only between South Korea and Japan but also among South Korea and the United States, South Korea, the United States, and Japan, as well as South Korea and China, involving defense ministers of key countries.

At a regular briefing on the same day, Ministry of Defense spokesperson Jeon Ha-gyu said in response to questions about the "patrol aircraft issue," "There is no change in the Ministry of Defense's existing position," adding, "Since it was agreed at this summit to strengthen trust between the two countries, I believe that a desirable solution can be sought through mutual dialogue."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.