Singapore, May 30 (IANS) South Korea and Japan will resume their joint maritime search and rescue exercises (SAREX) starting early next month, Seoul’s defence chief said Saturday, calling it a “symbolic” move that reflects improving bilateral relations.
South Korea’s Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back unveiled the plan in bilateral talks with Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, held on the margins of the Asia Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, Yonhap news agency reported.
“The SAREX drills will take place on June 7,” he said in the opening remarks. “I believe the resumption of the drills after nine years carries a highly symbolic and declaratory meaning.”
The drills will be conducted jointly with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force in international waters southeast of Jeju Island, South Korea’s Navy said in a separate release.
The exercise will involve its 4,900-tonne ROKS Cheon Ja Bong landing ship, Japan’s 7,250-tonne Aegis-equipped Kongo destroyer and a Japanese maritime patrol helicopter, it added.
Launched in 1999, the biennial SAREX exercise was designed to train procedures for coordinated responses between naval ships from both countries in the event of maritime incidents in waters near the Korean Peninsula.
But the drills have been suspended since the 10th round in 2017, as bilateral ties soured following a dispute over a Japanese maritime patrol aircraft making an unusually low-altitude flyby over a South Korean warship in December 2018.
Seoul had decried the plane’s approach as a “menacing” flight, while Tokyo accused the South Korean vessel of having locked its fire-control radar on the plane.
The two countries agreed to prevent a recurrence of such a spat during defence ministers’ talks in June 2024 under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol government amid a dramatic warming of bilateral relations.
Ahn and Koizumi agreed to restart the drills when they met in Tokyo in January.
Ahead of their talks in Singapore, Ahn described the expanding exchanges at the defence ministerial level as “ping-pong diplomacy,” calling the development yet another milestone in their bilateral ties.
Koizumi, in turn, underscored that such meetings are not taking place just out of goodwill or friendship, but “necessity” given the current security challenges shared by both countries.
“To promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, it is important for Japan and South Korea to take a leading role, including through the US-Japan alliance, the US-ROK (Republic of Korea) alliance, and broader strategic cooperation to maintain and strengthen deterrence and response capabilities,” he said through an interpreter.
During Saturday’s talks, the ministers concurred on the importance of their countries’ bilateral cooperation and trilateral partnership involving the United States, their mutual ally, to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, Seoul’s defence ministry said in a release.
The two sides also agreed to maintain close communication to further advance defence exchanges and cooperation in a stable, forward-looking manner by deepening mutual understanding and trust, the ministry added.
At the invitation of Ahn, the two countries are working to arrange a visit by Koizumi to South Korea in late June, a Seoul official said.
–IANS
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