Weapons row flares up between S. Korea and Japan

SEOUL: A row between Seoul and Tokyo escalated after Japan released a video it said backed up its claim that a South Korean warship had locked its weapons targeting system onto a Japanese plane.

South Korea condemned the release of the footage and reiterated its rejection of the Japanese allegations.

Tensions have flared since Japan alleged that a South Korean destroyer last week aimed its fire-control radar at a Japanese maritime patrol plane in the Sea of Japan off the eastern coast of South Korea.

Seoul has denied the allegations, saying the ship was merely searching for a North Korean fishing boat that was drifting near the inter-Korean sea border.

In a bid to defuse tensions, defence authorities from both sides held a video conference on Thursday and “exchanged opinions regarding the truth and technical analysis to remove misunderstandings,” the South Korean defence ministry said yesterday.

But the Japanese defence minis- try yesterday released on its homepage a 13-minute video filmed by the aircraft which it said supported its allegations.

Tokyo said the footage contained scenes where the plane was hit multiple times by the fire-control radar.

“We express deep concern and regret over the unilateral release of the footage,” the South Korean defence ministry said in a statement yesterday.

“As we have stated repeatedly, the Gwanggaeto destroyer was engaging in a normal rescue operation and it remains as a fact that the ship did not use” the fire-control radar, it said.

“Instead, it is very disappointing that the Japanese patrol aircraft conducted a low-altitude flight in a threatening manner against our ship which was involved in a humanitarian rescue mission,” it said.

It dismissed the footage as failing to stand up as evidence as it only shows scenes of the ship from the circling plane. — AFP