South Korean media says Japan-South Korea defense cooperation is being ”put on the brakes” - Self-Defense Forces refueling support is suspended, South Korean military participation in Japan is postponed

The Japanese and South Korean governments have canceled a refueling support for South Korean air force aircraft at a Self-Defense Force base that was planned for earlier this month as part of defense cooperation between the two countries.
It was discovered that an air force aircraft intended for support had flown over the area at the end of last month, leading Japan to cancel its acceptance of the aircraft. The South Korean military band will also refrain from participating in a music event being held by the Self-Defense Forces this week.
South Korea's public broadcaster KBS said, "This appears to have put a temporary brake on the progress of defense exchanges between South Korea and Japan." Currently, Japan and South Korea have a good relationship.
The South Korean government is determined to make efforts to prevent this incident from developing into a diplomatic dispute. According to the report, the refueling support was provided by the South Korean Air Force's special flight team, "Bura-Ku."
The team was originally planning to participate in an air show to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from mid-month, and will fly to the Naha Air Base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Okinawa Prefecture) on that occasion.
The Self-Defense Forces have concluded Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreements (ACSA) with countries such as the United States and Australia to exchange supplies and medicines, but with South Korea
On the other hand, Article 116, paragraph 1 of the Self-Defense Forces Law stipulates that fuel can be loaned free of charge to the extent that it does not interfere with the Self-Defense Forces' missions, and in response to a request for refueling support from the South Korean military,
Preparations were underway to carry out refueling based on this regulation. However, when it was discovered that an Air Force aircraft belonging to the team had flown near Takeshima late last month, the Ministry of Defense decided that refueling support would be difficult.
According to South Korean media, the flight was for training purposes, and the aircraft flew over Takeshima using white smoke to draw the pattern of the South Korean national flag, the Taegeukgi.
Following the cancellation of refueling by the Japanese side, the Black Eagles decided not to participate in the air show.
According to the company, the Black Eagles previously refueled at a base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, when participating in overseas air shows. However, using Naha Air Base would not only save time, but also
The request for assistance from Japan was apparently made because it would help keep costs down. If the request had been realized, it would have been an unprecedented new form of defense cooperation between Japan and South Korea.
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported, "The cancellation plan was announced just before the first meeting between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on October 30th.
After the meeting, the Prime Minister continued to insist on realizing the refueling mission in order to achieve the future-oriented Japan-Korea relations that he shared with Lee, but there were strong voices within the government that said, "It will be difficult to gain public understanding this time," and he gave up.
On the 1st of this month, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi met with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Kyu-baek for the first time while visiting Malaysia. The two also exchanged views on defense cooperation between Japan and South Korea.
On the 4th, Koizumi commented that the cancellation of refueling support for South Korean Air Force aircraft was a "reaction between the defense authorities of Japan and South Korea."
Meanwhile, on the 9th, Minister Ahn appeared on a KBS program and said, "At the last defense ministers' meeting, we talked about maintaining a security cooperation relationship, but (Japan) showed a different side of things and it failed."
The JoongAng Ilbo, which reported his remarks, said, "Minister Ahn did not mention any specific cases, but recently the Japanese government has made a request for the South Korean Air Force's Black Eagles T-50B special training aircraft."
"The South Korean military band will be performing at the Japan Self-Defense Forces Refusal to provide intermediate refueling at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo from the 13th to the 15th of this month.
The defense ministers of both countries agreed at a meeting in September this year that Japan's participation in the event would be promoted as part of "activating people-to-people exchanges."
The South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh reported, "Both governments are trying to prevent this situation from escalating into diplomatic friction, but the defense exchanges between South Korea and Japan that they had been aiming to accelerate have been postponed.
"It is expected that there will be some brakes on the economy," he said.