Japan and South Korea Resume Search and Rescue Drill for First Time Since Radar Lock-On Incident

(Central News Agency, Tokyo, June 9, Combined Foreign News) The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force announced yesterday that it conducted a search and rescue drill with the South Korean Navy in the waters west of Nagasaki Prefecture. This is the first time the two sides have resumed this training since a South Korean vessel allegedly locked its fire-control radar on a Japanese Self-Defense Force patrol aircraft in 2018.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, the training began in 1999 against the backdrop of North Korean missile launches. After a South Korean warship allegedly locked its fire-control radar on a Japanese Self-Defense Force patrol aircraft in 2018, the two sides suspended the training from that year.

The last previous training between the two sides was in 2017. In January of this year, a joint document from a meeting of defense ministers from Japan and South Korea explicitly stated the resumption of this training.

On May 7, an Aegis destroyer and anti-submarine helicopters from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, along with a South Korean amphibious assault ship, participated in the search and rescue drill. The drill simulated a scenario where a fire breaks out at sea, and a Maritime Self-Defense Force anti-submarine aircraft lands on the South Korean amphibious assault ship.

The training location was in the waters west of the Gotō Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture.

Chief of Staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Saito Satoshi, emphasized at a press conference on May 2, "This will contribute to future defense cooperation and exchange between Japan and South Korea." (Editor: Yang Weijing) 1150609