The Yomiuri Shimbun and other outlets reported that the team refueled Tuesday at the JASDF base in Naha, Okinawa. It was the first time the JASDF has provided refueling support to a South Korean Air Force aircraft.
The aircraft departed from Wonju Air Base in Gangwon Province and arrived at Naha around 10 a.m., one after another. Pilots also met with JASDF personnel at the base.
Masahisa Miyazaki, Japan’s vice defense minister, said, “As the security environment surrounding our country grows more severe, Japan-South Korea defense cooperation is very important,” adding that the Black Eagles’ first stopover carried “great symbolic significance.”
The Black Eagles were to depart Okinawa and travel via the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Oman, arriving in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 2 to take part in the International Defense Industry Exhibition 2026.
Japan had previously agreed to provide refueling support for the Black Eagles as they traveled to the Dubai Airshow in the United Arab Emirates in November, but later refused after raising an issue over the T-50B aircraft conducting routine training near Dokdo.
After South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi discussed defense coordination in a phone call on Dec. 26, talks resumed on a Japan stopover. A military attache message was sent Jan. 5 seeking approval for the stopover and airspace transit.
The Yomiuri described the refueling in Japan as part of Japan-South Korea defense cooperation and said the Japanese government wants to link cooperation with South Korea to a mutual logistics support agreement, known as an ACSA.
It said an ACSA between the Self-Defense Forces and the South Korean military would allow smoother, broader mutual provision of fuel and food and improve operational flexibility.
Ahn is scheduled to visit Japan on Wednesday and meet Koizumi on Thursday in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.