Japan and South Korea Make Historic Agreement after 3-Year Rift
Japan and South Korea have agreed to strengthen their defense cooperation against North Korea’s increased missile tests and nuclear programs. The meeting between Japan’s Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu and South Korea’s Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup took place at the bottom of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, where the ministers discussed bilateral and regional relations.
Both ministers have strongly condemned North Korea’s last failed missile test, which they labeled as a serious violation of the United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions. They also reaffirmed their plans to enhance the bilateral and trilateral cooperation between Japan, South Korea, and their common security allies, the United States, to counter the growing regional security environment and global challenges.
In addition to this, the ministers agreed to speed up negotiations on measures to prevent radar deadlocks between the military forces of the two countries. During the discussions, the parties could not reach a solution as there was a difference of opinion regarding the radar crash case in December 2018. However, they agreed to start working-level talks to address the issue and prevent a recurrence.
The meeting was the first bilateral defense ministers meeting in over three years between the neighboring countries. The Tokyo government had claimed in December 2018 that the South Korean destroyer had directed its fire control radar against a patrol aircraft belonging to the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF), which was disputed by the Seoul government.
Meanwhile, North Korea has failed to launch a military spy satellite recently, and the United States and the UN have condemned the attempt. North Korea has launched approximately 90 missiles of various types and ranges in 2022, and there is speculation that they may conduct a new nuclear test in the near future. The international community has expressed concern and urged North Korea to refrain from further provocations.
