No progress from S. Korea-Japan military talks over radar dispute
- 5 years ago
Senior military officials from Seoul and Tokyo have been holding a rare meeting to discuss a disputed encounter between a South Korean warship and a Japanese maritime patrol aircraft.
But they came away empty-handed as the two sides couldn't narrow their differences on the matter.
Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
General-level representatives from South Korea and Japan held military talks in Singapore on Monday,... trying to resolve their misunderstandings over the dispute about Seoul's use of military radar in search and rescue operations last month.
Despite the talks lasting over ten hours, which took place at both nations' embassies,... according to military sources, the two sides only reaffirmed their differences and couldn't reach any settlements.
Tokyo insists a South Korean warship targeted its fire-control radar on the Japanese maritime patrol aircraft on December 20th.
Seoul denies the claim,... saying its warship only used its search radar as the vessel was conducting a humanitarian mission to rescue a drifting North Korean ship in the East Sea.
According to military sources, South Korean officials demanded Japan's analysis of radar frequency data to verify what kind of radar the warship used,... but the Japanese delegation refused to disclose the information.
In December, South Korea and Japan held a working-level video conference over the issue only to confirm their differences.
A day later, Tokyo released video from the aircraft in a bid to back up its claim.
Seoul expressed deep concern and regret about the video,... and later came back with its own footage shot from the warship,... demanding an apology from Japan for flying toward the ship at a low altitude and in a threatening manner.
Monday's military talks marked the first face-to-face meeting between officials from the two nations over the radar dispute.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News
But they came away empty-handed as the two sides couldn't narrow their differences on the matter.
Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
General-level representatives from South Korea and Japan held military talks in Singapore on Monday,... trying to resolve their misunderstandings over the dispute about Seoul's use of military radar in search and rescue operations last month.
Despite the talks lasting over ten hours, which took place at both nations' embassies,... according to military sources, the two sides only reaffirmed their differences and couldn't reach any settlements.
Tokyo insists a South Korean warship targeted its fire-control radar on the Japanese maritime patrol aircraft on December 20th.
Seoul denies the claim,... saying its warship only used its search radar as the vessel was conducting a humanitarian mission to rescue a drifting North Korean ship in the East Sea.
According to military sources, South Korean officials demanded Japan's analysis of radar frequency data to verify what kind of radar the warship used,... but the Japanese delegation refused to disclose the information.
In December, South Korea and Japan held a working-level video conference over the issue only to confirm their differences.
A day later, Tokyo released video from the aircraft in a bid to back up its claim.
Seoul expressed deep concern and regret about the video,... and later came back with its own footage shot from the warship,... demanding an apology from Japan for flying toward the ship at a low altitude and in a threatening manner.
Monday's military talks marked the first face-to-face meeting between officials from the two nations over the radar dispute.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News