By Lee Min-hyung
Seoul is considering introducing countermeasures against repeated maritime provocations by Tokyo amid escalating tension between the two in the wake of another Japanese aircraft's "threatening," low-level flight near a South Korean warship Wednesday.
On Thursday, the South's Ministry of National Defense unveiled radar recordings showing Japan's Self-Defense Forces' P3 maritime patrol aircraft "buzzing" the Navy destroyer Dae Jo Yeong. The photos included detailed readouts indicating how close the plane was flying to the warship.
The move comes at a crucial juncture when the ongoing diplomatic conflict between Seoul and Tokyo shows no signs of abating, with the latter engaging in such provocations three times in the past week.
South Korea strongly condemned what it called "provocative acts intended to intimidate" by Japan, and is planning measures against these.
The defense ministry considers the provocations to be political in nature because Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Japan's defense and foreign affairs chiefs among other high-ranking officials, are taking issue with the dispute.
Some critics argue that the Abe government is seeking to raise its domestic approval rating by politicizing the issue.
On Thursday, Rep. Song Young-gil of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) argued that the Ministry of National Defense should abrogate a military information-sharing agreement between the two countries signed in November 2016, because of the latter's reluctance to unveil key information whenever its warplanes carry out low-altitude flights near South Korean vessels.
Seoul maintains that Tokyo should disclose specific evidence to back up its argument that its Self-Defense Forces have not engaged in buzzing South Korean warships.
"The ongoing controversy, which started Dec. 20, is getting worse," Song said. Under the current situation with both sides failing to narrow their differences over the dispute, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) is completely useless, he added.
A month-long "radar dispute" centers on the alleged radar "painting" of a Japanese P-1 patrol aircraft by the Navy's Gwanggaeto the Great destroyer. Tokyo claimed the warship locked its fire-control radar on the plane, which the South said was not true.
Song questioned the effectiveness of the GSOMIA with Japan declining to share key data that could put an end to the dispute.
Seoul wants Japan to give it the frequency of the radar waves at the exact moment when the South Korean destroyer is said to have locked on to the aircraft.
"The radar dispute can be resolved if Japan shares the data according to the GSOMIA, but the country is declining to do so," Song said.
The defense ministry said it was reviewing a variety of issues before pushing to revise or scrap the GSOMIA.
"We will take many things into account," ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said in a media briefing, Thursday.
In efforts to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, the Joint Chiefs of Staff is planning to upgrade its warning systems to better deal with any possible threats from Japanese aircraft.
Cheong Wa Dae held a National Security Council (NSC) meeting Thursday to discuss possible countermeasures to the provocative actions, but did not reveal any details.
Japan denying South's claim
Japan has denied South Korea's claim regarding the incident Wednesday.
Tokyo's Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said the Japanese patrol planes were conducting surveillance and never flew within 500 meters of the South Korean vessels.
"Appropriate flight operations were conducted based on international and domestic laws," Iwaya said.
This is in contrast to South Korea's claim that the Japanese aircraft flew at an altitude of 60 meters to 70 meters and passed within 540 meters of the destroyer.
