Japan, South Korea to resume search-and-rescue drill after 9 years in sign of warming ties

SINGAPORE - Japan and South Korea will resume a joint search-and-rescue exercise in June for the first time in about nine years, reflecting improving ties between the two nations after years of strained defence relations.

South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu Back said on May 30 at the start of talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi in Singapore that the humanitarian exercise involving the South Korean Navy and Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force will be held on June 7.

The exercise has not been conducted since 2017.

“It is important for Japan and South Korea to take a proactive role in promoting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, including by strengthening deterrence through the US-Japan and US-South Korea alliances and other strategic coordination,” Mr Koizumi said.

Defence exchanges between the two countries stalled after a December 2018 incident in which Japan accused a South Korean naval destroyer of locking its fire-control radar onto a Japanese patrol plane in Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Seoul denied the allegation.

The dispute became a major source of tension in bilateral ties and led to the suspension of some defence exchanges, including the search-and-rescue drill.

The two countries agreed to resume the exercise during a meeting between Mr Koizumi and Mr Ahn in January in Yokosuka, near Tokyo, as part of broader efforts to improve defence cooperation. KYODO NEWS