The maritime exercise, known as SAREX, is designed to rehearse joint procedures for responding to maritime emergencies involving distressed vessels and was held for the first time since December 2017.
The South Korean Navy deployed the 4,900-ton Cheonjabong landing ship tank (LST-II), while Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force participated with the 7,250-ton Aegis destroyer Kongo and an SH-60K maritime helicopter.
During the exercise, the two sides conducted joint firefighting drills simulating a fire aboard a distressed vessel, while the Japanese SH-60K helicopter carried out takeoff and landing operations on the flight deck of the Cheonjabong.
South Korea and Japan launched the search and rescue exercise program in 1999 and had conducted 10 rounds of drills every two years through 2017.
The exercise was suspended after bilateral defense ties deteriorated over Japan’s rising sun flag, a symbol many Koreans view as a reminder of Japan’s wartime militarism, during a 2018 fleet review hosted by South Korea, followed by a patrol aircraft dispute.
The two sides agreed in January during defense ministerial talks in Japan to resume the exercise and had since coordinated its timing. The schedule was officially confirmed during a bilateral defense ministers’ meeting held on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore on May 30.
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said during the meeting that resuming the exercise carried “symbolic and declaratory significance,” adding that the two countries should further deepen and develop what he described as a valuable achievement of bilateral cooperation.
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