Defense Minister: "Korea-Japan Patrol Plane Conflict, Both Countries Agree to Establish Measures to Prevent Recurrence"

Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop shaking hands and posing for a commemorative photo with Japanese Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu after a bilateral meeting on the 4th.
[Photo by Ministry of National Defense]

On the 4th, Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop stated that South Korea and Japan will focus on establishing measures to prevent the recurrence of the 'patrol aircraft conflict,' the biggest obstacle in Korea-Japan defense exchanges.

After a bilateral meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu held in Singapore that day, Minister Lee told reporters, "We decided to start with working-level consultations and work towards a resolution." Although he did not disclose the specific details exchanged regarding the patrol aircraft conflict, it is known that both sides have agreed to move towards concluding and resolving the dispute.

The 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 accused by Japan of illuminating the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force P1 patrol aircraft flying near the vessel with a fire-control radar.

At that time, Japan released a video filmed inside the patrol aircraft as evidence, but South Korea denied any radar illumination and instead countered that the patrol aircraft conducted low-altitude threatening flights near the Gwanggaeto the Great. This incident led to a suspension of exchanges between the defense authorities.

This bilateral meeting between the Korea and Japan defense ministers is the first in about three and a half years since the meeting between then-Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and Minister Kono Taro in November 2019.