Japan, S. Korea arranging meeting of defense ministers

May 10, 2019

Tokyo--Japan and South Korea are arranging a meeting of their defense ministers in Singapore for June, informed sources said Thursday.

It would be the first such meeting between the Asian neighbors since the December 2018 incident in which a South Korean warship allegedly directed its fire-control radar at a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane.

Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya is expected to visit Singapore from June 1 to attend the Asia Security Summit between May 31 and June 2.

Tokyo and Seoul are arranging a meeting between Iwaya and his South Korean counterpart, Jeong Kyeong-doo, on the sidelines of the security meeting, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue. The two ministers last met in October 2018.

North Korea fired projectiles repeatedly after a summit between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and U.S. President Donald Trump ended in failure in February this year.

"We hope to hold a Japan-South Korea meeting in view of the North Korean situation," a Japanese Defense Ministry executive said. "We need to make the meeting constructive and meaningful."

If the meeting takes place, Iwaya would work to confirm collaboration between Japan and South Korea and three-way cooperation with the United States.

Even if Tokyo and Seoul agree to hold the talks, the radar incident will remain a thorny issue all the same.

In the spat, Japan has disclosed video footage and radio signal sounds as evidence to back up its claim.

Meanwhile, South Korea denies any such radar lock-on, alleging that the MSDF plane made a threatening low-altitude flight.

Bilateral defense exchanges have decreased due to the row.

South Korea put off indefinitely a visit to Japan by naval officers slated for February this year. Japan, for its part, canceled a visit to Busan by the Izumo, the MSDF's biggest vessel, last month.

The spat is not the only problem between the two countries. Their relations have also deteriorated over the issue of comfort women forced into prostitution for Japanese troops before and during World War II and South Korean Supreme Court rulings ordering Japanese companies to pay compensation for wartime labor.

There is a risk that the possible meeting of the defense ministers could result in a further deterioration in bilateral relations. Jiji Press