Tokyo Rebuts Seoul’s Contention over Radar Locking

December 23, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's Defense Ministry officially rebutted on Saturday Seoul's denial of a South Korean military ship's use of its weapons-control radar against a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force surveillance plane, condemning the radar lock-on as a "very dangerous" act.

In a statement, the ministry said it confirmed that the South Korean destroyer locked its arms-control radar on the MSDF aircraft after analyzing data collected by the surveillance plane carefully and precisely.

On Friday, Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said the incident occurred in the Sea of Japan off the Noto Peninsula around 3 p.m. Thursday (6 a.m. GMT). Later the same day, a South Korean defense ministry spokesman denied that the naval ship used the lock-on system against the Japanese aircraft.

South Korean newspapers, citing military sources, reported that the ship in question used the arms-control radar while searching for a North Korean fishing boat in distress.

But the Japanese ministry pointed out in the statement that a weapons-control radar is not suitable for a wide-area search because it is designed to accurately measure the position of an attack target.

"Even if it were used to search for the missing vessel, the act should be taken as very dangerous," the ministry said, stressing that a surface search radar should be used.

The ministry also noted that South Korea has adopted the international Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, which calls for refraining from using a weapons-control radar in search operations. Jiji Press