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| From left: Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, and Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya. Yonhap file |
By Jung Da-min
South Korea is seeking to revitalize military exchanges with China and Japan by holding bilateral ministerial-level talks on the sidelines of an Asian defense forum slated for May 31 to June 2 in Singapore, according to the Ministry of National Defense, Tuesday.
Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo is eager to hold one-on-one meetings with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts when top defense officials in the region gather for the annual forum known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Specific details including timelines and agendas have yet to be arranged, the defense ministry said.
The efforts to boost military exchanges come after Seoul's defense ties with China were strained over the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system, and with Japan because of a maritime dispute involving fire-control radar.
South Korea and China resumed working-level defense policy talks — which first kicked off in 1995 — last May in Seoul, after a hiatus of two years and four months. The last meeting (the 17th) was held last December in Beijing.
Last month, South Korea sent its Navy ship FFG-812 Gyeonggi to China for an international fleet review for the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army's 70th founding anniversary.
Defense Minister Jeong is expected to hold a bilateral meeting at this time with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe.
South Korea and Japan are also reviving military exchanges, holding bilateral talks in Seoul earlier this month on the sidelines of the 11th Defense Trilateral Talks (DTT) between South Korea, the United States and Japan.
Since December, military relations between South Korea and Japan had soured following a series of "threatening" low-altitude flyovers by Japanese maritime patrol planes over South Korean Navy ships, and Japan's claims that a South Korean destroyer ship locked its fire-control radar on one of these planes.
Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya recently expressed willingness to normalize military ties, according to Japanese media earlier this week, addressing North Korea over its recent launches of short-range missiles and "unidentified" projectiles.
Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is also attending the Shangri-La Dialogue, but Seoul and Washington are reportedly planning to hold bilateral talks later in Seoul, as Shanahan is planning to visit the capital on June 2 and 3.
Shanahan is also planning to travel to Tokyo, June 3 and 4, according to a report by Japan's Kyodo News last Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the issue.
