Seoul accuses Japanese patrol plane of threatening flight
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/01/2019 (2497 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of – South Korea’s military accused Japan of a “clear provocation” over what it said was a threatening low-altitude flight by a Japanese patrol plane over a South Korean warship on Wednesday.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the plane flew 60 to 70 metres (196 to 229 feet) above the water near a South Korean naval ship in seas southwest of the Korean Peninsula.
Japanese Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya denied the allegation, saying the aircraft flew more than twice as high as South Korea claimed. Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said it was “essential that the Japanese and South Korean defence authorities try to communicate and promote better understanding.”
Seoul and Tokyo are key U.S. allies and close economic partners, but are currently locked in disputes over military issues and wartime history.
The announcement comes after a weekslong spat between the countries’ militaries over Japanese allegations that a South Korean warship locked its fire-control radar on a Japanese patrol plane in December. South Korea’s military denied the allegation and accused the plane of flying low over the warship, which was engaged in a rescue operation of a North Korean fishing boat.
JCS official Suh Wook said Wednesday’s flight was the third time Japanese planes have flown low over South Korean warships since the December incident. It’s considered highly unlikely that such encounters will lead to actual military skirmishes.
“The threatening low-altitude flight conducted today, despite our firm request to the Japanese government to ensure that (such flights) don’t recur, is a clear provocation against the naval vessel of a friendly country and makes it impossible for us not to question Japan’s intentions,” Suh said in a statement. “If such activity repeats again, our military will respond strongly based on our response rules.”
The disputes between the militaries have further strained relations between Seoul and Tokyo, which have sunk to their worst level in recent years over compensation issues related to the Japanese army’s sexual abuse of “comfort women” and forced labour by Koreans during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 through 1945.
___
Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
