Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Korea making videos to counter Japan's 'radar lock-on' claims
The image from the South Korean Navy shows a Japanese patrol plane, inside the yellow circle, making a low-altitude flight. / Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
The South Korean defense ministry plans to release videos in eight languages to counter Tokyo's claims in a deepening radar row between the countries, ministry officials said Sunday.
The Ministry of National Defense is making videos in Japanese, Chinese, French, Germany, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish and Arabic to counter Tokyo's claims that a South Korean naval ship used its fire-control radar on a Japanese P-1 patrol plane. The ministry claims Japan's low-altitude flight threatened Seoul's humanitarian rescue mission.
A ministry source said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was reviewing the videos due to the sensitivity of the issue and that the videos would be released on YouTube soon.
The move is in response to Japan's unilateral release of video footage in Japanese and English on Dec. 28, claiming the Korean vessel used fire control radar on Japan's surveillance plane.
Foreign ministers from both countries agreed to hold working-level meetings soon to discuss the dispute.
“Seoul's release of its own videos is expected to put pressure on Tokyo ahead of the bilateral working-level meetings,” said Dankook University professor Cha Dong-gil.
Seoul has been stepping up efforts to publicize the issue by reiterating its position using various channels, saying that Seoul was merely trying to help a North Korean ship and was not targeting Japan's plane.
On Friday, the ministry uploaded two video clips in Korean and English on YouTube that include the audio recording received by the South's Gwanggaeto warship and video recorded by the Korea Coast Guard to dispute Tokyo's claim.
In the clip, the ministry stressed that its Gwanggaeto the Great destroyer did not target Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force's P-1 plane, and that the vessel was trying to rescue a North Korean boat in distress in international waters of the East Sea.
Korea again urged Japan to apologize for the great danger caused by the threatening flight and to work toward resolving the issue.
On the same day, ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said Tokyo's claim was “groundless” and that the defense ministry was waiting for an apology from Japan.
Amid strained relations between Japan and South Korea over compensation issues related to Japan's wartime sexual slavery and Korean forced laborers during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula, the radar issue has created another source of contention.