Not Japanese

Featured prominently in recent television and media coverage of the Diaoyu Islands affair were two Ulsan Class frigates and one replenishment tanker of the South Korean Navy.

According to the authoritative Jane's Fighting Ships they are respectively the Chon Nam (957), Chung Nam (953) and Chun Jee (57).

This fact appears to have escaped the notice of reporters who have wrongly identified these vessels as Japanese.

Furthermore, I note with interest that the three warships were flying the Japanese national flag from their masts. The practice of flying a foreign national flag from the mast is a courtesy extended in recognition of sovereignty.

DAVID ROBINSON Publisher Fragrant Harbour Magazine