JAKARTA - Japan and South Korea will hold joint search and rescue (SAR) exercises again on June 7. SAR is an operation to search for and rescue people who have accidents or emergencies, including at sea.
According to a Kyodo News report quoted on Sunday, May 31, this exercise was held for the first time since 2017, after the long-standing defense relationship between the two countries stalled.
South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu Back conveyed the plan during a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in Singapore on Saturday.
The exercise will involve the South Korean Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. Although the form is a humanitarian exercise, the meaning is not small. Japan and South Korea are two important allies of the United States in East Asia, but their relations often go up and down because of history and defense disputes.
"It is important for Japan and South Korea to take a proactive role in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific," Koizumi said.
He said the cooperation was also related to strengthening deterrence, namely the ability to prevent threats so that the opponent does not dare to attack, through the Japan-US alliance, South Korea-US, and other strategic coordination.
Tokyo and Seoul's defense relations deteriorated after the incident in December 2018. Kyodo News reported that Japan at that time accused the South Korean Navy destroyer of locking the fire control radar to a Japanese patrol plane in Japan's exclusive economic zone. The fire control radar is a radar for aiming at a weapon target, while the exclusive economic zone is a sea area where a country has certain economic rights. Seoul denied the allegations.
The dispute halted a number of defense exchanges, including joint SAR exercises. The two countries then agreed to revive the exercise in Koizumi and Ahn's meeting in Yokosuka, near Tokyo, in January.
On the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Koizumi also met with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and British Defense Secretary John Healey.
In a meeting with Hegseth, Japan and the US agreed to accelerate cooperation in the development and production of advanced missiles. The cooperation includes the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile and the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor.
Koizumi also explained Japan's efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities, including the relaxation of the rules on the export of defense equipment adopted in April. Hegseth welcomed the policy.
When asked whether the US asked Japan to increase defense spending, Koizumi said the issue was indeed mentioned. However, there was no discussion of specific numbers or targets.
In a separate meeting, Healey said Britain welcomed the plan for a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. According to a source familiar with the plan, Takaichi is considering a visit to Britain before the G7 summit in France on June 15-17.
Koizumi and Healey also reaffirmed Japanese-British defense cooperation, including in the Global Combat Air Program, a Japanese, British, and Italian project to develop a new generation of fighter aircraft.
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