국방부 "日초계기에 일체 전파방사 없어, 추적레이더도 켜지 않아
Tokyo claimed over the weekend a South Korean warship used its targeting radar to aim at a Japanese patrol plane.
Today, Seoul's defense ministry reiterated... that it used a different system,... and was trying to find a North Korean boat that had gone adrift.
For details we turn to our Park Ji-won.
South Korea's defense ministry says the destroyer's fire-control radar was not directed at the Japanese aircraft, and in fact the targeting system was never used.
Rather it was a search radar employed in a routine search operation.
"As we already announced, our military conducted a standard humanitarian rescue operation. We once again stressed that no actions were taken that would make Japan feel threathened. If there are any misunderstandings, Japan and the Republic of Korea can resolve them through bilateral communications and consultations, following standard processes."
Last Friday, Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters that a Japanese P-1 patrol aircraft was locked-on by a South Korean warship's fire-control radar,... a move considered extremely dangerous and one that could even spark an accidental engagement.
After that, South Korea's defense ministry said the navy destroyer was not aiming at the Japanese plane,.. but was using its search radar to find a North Korean vessel that had drifted into international waters.
The South Korean defense ministry also said it had already explained the situation to Japan.
In Monday's regular press briefing at the defense ministry,... officials from the Joint Chiefs of Staff insisted that the South Korean destroyer was using a 3-D radar developed by the Netherlands called "MW 08"... and not the "STIR 180" targeting radar, as Japan had claimed.
And later, they said, the South Korean destroyer used its optical camera to identify the Japanese plane, which they said was flying abnormally low.
"Generally, it is very unusual for other countries' patrol aircraft to pass over another country's destroyer. That's why our destroyer was using the optical camera attached to the radar to monitor the Japanese aircraft. During the process, there was no emission of electromagnetic waves."
The defense ministry officials also explained that,... regarding the radio communications sent by the Japanese plane to the South Korean destroyer,... a weak connection meant the message could not be fully understood on the South Korean side
Park Ji-won, Arirang News.
