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\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAhead of another Trump\u0026ndash;Kim summit scheduled for the end of February in Vietnam, a simmering spat between two crucial allies of the United States has been underway in the background. As the US hopes to make progress towards a peace deal and the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, South Korea and Japan have been locked in a war of words over a potentially dangerous military engagement.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eThe incident\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe \u0026lsquo;mutual misunderstanding\u0026rsquo; concerns the alleged use of fire-control radar by the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy against a Japanese P-1 maritime patrol aircraft on 20 December 2018.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe P-1 had made a series of low passes close to a South Korean warship, the guided missile destroyer ROKS \u003cem\u003eGwanggaeto the Great\u003c/em\u003e (DDH-971), which, according to Seoul, was carrying out a humanitarian mission to assist a North Korean vessel adrift in the Sea of Japan.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFollowing high-level defence talks to address the incident, the Japanese Ministry of Defense released \u003ca href=\u0022http://www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/defense/radar/index.html\u0022\u003evideo footage\u003c/a\u003e of its P-1 aircraft passing over the South Korean destroyer and the accompanying sound of a cockpit alarm warning the Japanese crew of a fire-control radar lock-on.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eExpressing consternation at Japan\u0026rsquo;s accusations, Seoul too responded with its own footage, demanding an apology from Tokyo over what it perceived as threatening low-altitude passes over its warship. Seoul has protested that it had only deployed \u0026lsquo;search radar\u0026rsquo; and had not intentionally locked-on its fire-control radar to the Japanese P-1, demanding that Tokyo provides verification analysis.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter talks at each country\u0026rsquo;s respective embassies in Singapore, both sides walked away empty handed. Tokyo is now apparently prepared to release its analysis of the radar signatures employed by the ROK Navy, as proof that its aircraft was targeted by South Korean fire-control radar.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eHistorical grievances\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis is not the first time in recent years that Japan has complained about the use of fire-control radar against its Maritime Self-Defense Force. In early 2013, Japan\u0026rsquo;s then-defence minister Itsunori Onodera accused China\u0026rsquo;s People\u0026rsquo;s Liberation Army Navy of targeting Japanese destroyers close to the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. China\u0026rsquo;s defence ministry rigorously denied the accusations.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe widening rift between Japan and South Korea is also reflected in the 2018 Defense White Paper released by ROK\u0026rsquo;s Ministry of National Defense. The \u003ca href=\u0022https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/N-Korea-at-crossroads/South-Korea-no-longer-calls-Pyongyang-enemy-in-defense-paper\u0022\u003eJapanese media\u003c/a\u003e picked up on the downgrading of bilateral relations, from \u0026lsquo;sharing the values of liberal democracy and market economy\u0026rsquo;, a phrase used in the 2016 White Paper, to \u0026lsquo;neighbors \u0026hellip; and partners who need to cooperate for world peace and prosperity\u0026rsquo;.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe paper also watered down its concept of \u0026lsquo;enemy\u0026rsquo;, a word in the past reserved specifically for North Korea. South Korea\u0026rsquo;s defence ministry stated in a press release that such a widening of the term encompasses not only North Korean threats, but also \u0026lsquo;transnational and non-military threats\u0026rsquo;. Such changes in the nuanced language of the White Paper will inevitably aggravate concerns in Tokyo over the potential for renewed tension with South Korea.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAt a time when unity of vision is required among the US and its allies in East Asia, this episode demonstrates just how close to the surface visceral grievances over Japan\u0026rsquo;s wartime militarism lie. South Korea and Japan have been mired in acrimonious court rulings over forced labour policies by Japanese companies during the Second World War; the appearance of statues depicting \u0026lsquo;comfort women\u0026rsquo; outside Japanese diplomatic missions in South Korea; and enduring Japanese claims to the Dokdo islands (also known as Takeshima).\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eDistraction from US\u0026ndash;North Korea talks\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSquabbling between two of Washington\u0026rsquo;s key allies over the use of increasingly sophisticated weapons platforms will be a severe distraction on the eve of another set of historic talks between the US and North Korea.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe inability of Japan and South Korea to manage escalation between themselves would also undermine the Pentagon\u0026rsquo;s efforts to encourage the establishment of protocols for unexpected encounters on the high seas, and in the air between US allies and the Chinese military.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUS President Donald Trump wants both Japan and South Korea to commit to more burden sharing in securing the region, but there are concerns in both countries that he is disinterested in the broader dynamics of regional alliance management. The spat may fuel reticence in Washington about handing over wartime operational control to the South Korean military, proposed by President Moon Jae-in in late 2017.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAll this will not be lost on China. President Xi Jinping has already sought to demonstrate China\u0026rsquo;s dominance over any future rapprochement on the Korean Peninsula by hosting Kim on extended visits to Beijing prior to his talks with the US. In the absence of any intervention by the US in easing tension between two crucial Asian allies, Beijing will likely jump at any opportunity to expose the failings of the US Indo-Pacific hub-and-spokes alliance structure.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","className":"richtext reading--content font-secondary"}), document.getElementById("react_65onvUW0RkqDIxxAxiE93w"))});
\u003cp\u003eAn encounter at sea between the navies of South Korea and Japan has highlighted unresolved wartime grievances between the two US allies. \u003c/p\u003e
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