Japan says footage ‘proves’ South Korean warship had weapons lock on one of its aeroplanes
- Seoul has denied the allegations, saying the ship was merely searching for a North Korean fishing boat that was drifting near the inter-Korean sea border
A row between Seoul and Tokyo escalated on Friday after Japan released a video it said backed up its claim that a South Korean warship had locked a weapons targeting system onto a Japanese plane.
South Korea condemned the release of the footage and reiterated its rejection of the Japanese allegations.
Tensions have flared since Japan claimed a South Korean destroyer last week aimed its fire-control radar at a Japanese maritime patrol plane in the sea off the eastern coast of South Korea.
Seoul has denied the allegations, saying the ship was merely searching for a North Korean fishing boat that was drifting near the inter-Korean sea border.
In a bid to defuse tensions, defence authorities from both sides held a video conference on Thursday and “exchanged opinions regarding the truth and technical analysis to remove misunderstandings”, the South Korean defence ministry said.
But the Japanese defence ministry on Friday released on its homepage a 13-minute video filmed by the aircraft that it said supported its allegations.