South Korea and Japan held a joint maritime search-and-rescue exercise on June 7 for the first time in nine years, marking a further improvement in defense ties. The drill took place in international waters southeast of Jeju Island and involved South Korea’s ROKS Cheon Ja Bong landing ship and Japan’s Kongo-class destroyer. The exercise, first launched in 1999, had been suspended since 2017 after a military dispute in 2018 damaged bilateral relations. Its resumption follows agreements reached by the two countries’ defense ministers earlier this year.
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South Korea and Japan held a joint maritime search-and-rescue exercise on June 7 for the first time in nine years, marking a further improvement in defense ties. The drill took place in international waters southeast of Jeju Island and involved South Korea’s ROKS Cheon Ja Bong landing ship and Japan’s Kongo-class destroyer. The exercise, first launched in 1999, had been suspended since 2017 after a military dispute in 2018 damaged bilateral relations. Its resumption follows agreements reached by the two countries’ defense ministers earlier this year.