Radar Dispute

[Anchor Lead]

Amid strained ties between Seoul and Tokyo, South Korea's Defense Ministry made an unusual move to demand Japan's apology over a radar dispute. It follows Japan's claim that a South Korean naval vessel aimed at a Japanese military patrol plane.

[Pkg]

This is a video recorded by Japan's Self-Defense Forces of South Korea's King Gwanggaeto destroyer trying to rescue a drifting North Korean fishing ship in the East Sea on December 20th. South Korea's Defense Ministry says a closer look reveals that a Japanese military plane was flying extremely low to approach and threatened the South Korean naval vessel carrying out a humanitarian operation. However, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sparked dispute again in a media interview Tuesday by calling on Seoul to devise measures to prevent similar incidents. An English video produced and distributed by the Japanese government has already attracted 640,000 views. This is why analysts suspect that Abe might have again employed the political card of bashing Korea to help boost his falling approval ratings. The Defense Ministry announced a strong message against Tokyo in an unusual move. It said that Japan's patrol aircraft's threatening low-altitude flight was very dangerous when an ally's naval vessel was conducting a humanitarian operation to rescue a stranded fishing ship. The ministry also urged Japan not to distort the facts while demanding an apology for making such a dangerous low-altitude flight against the South Korean destroyer. The South Korean government will continue to hold working-level defense talks with Japan to establish facts. At the same time, it is considering taking additional measures, believing that Tokyo is making use of the case for political purposes.