KYODO NEWS


 

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on Thursday was welcomed aboard a South Korean naval vessel during its port call in Japan, highlighting the increasingly close security collaboration between Tokyo and Seoul amid North Korea's growing military threats.

Nakatani interacted with crew members of the South Korean navy's amphibious assault ship, the Marado, which was making a stop at a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo.

It marks the first time a Japanese defense chief has boarded a South Korean warship, Japan's Defense Ministry said.

"Japan-South Korea cooperation has become more important than ever," Nakatani told a welcome ceremony, mentioning Pyongyang's repeated missile tests.

Tokyo-Seoul ties, which had worsened over an alleged locking of a fire-control radar on a Japanese patrol plane by a South Korean warship in 2018, among other issues, have been recovering after Yoon Suk Yeol became South Korean President in May 2022.

The last visit by a South Korean navy ship to Japan was in November 2022, when the MSDF held an international naval fleet review at Sagami Bay off Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo.