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A “Rising Sun” flag can be seen on a Japanese warship in Sagami Bay, southwest of Tokyo, in 2015. (Hankyoreh file photo)

On Monday, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup responded to questions surrounding South Korea’s potential participation in Japan’s upcoming international fleet review ceremony. The fleet review will commemorate the 70th founding anniversary of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).

Lee said that Korea will “take into consideration issues of concern while also comprehensively taking into account the international fleet review concept and customs and use that as a basis for the decision” of whether to participate in the naval celebration.

At a plenary session of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee held Monday, Lee made sure to clear up some misunderstandings that have been floating around in the media. According to Lee, the South Korean government is not “actively” considering participating in Japan’s fleet review, unlike what many media reports have stated.

The JMSDF invited the Republic of Korea Navy to take part in its 70th founding anniversary ceremony to be held in November. However, the entire issue is controversial in South Korea due to the flag used by the JMSDF. The flag used by Japan’s ships has the same design as the “Rising Sun” flag, which is seen as a symbol of Japanese militarism.

During the fleet review ceremony, which can be compared to a military parade at sea, the commander-in-chief of the country hosting the fleet review boards the vessel to be inspected and inspects each of the participating country’s vessels. The ships of each country will then conduct a flag salute to the official hosting vessel.

The flag salute is part of international maritime etiquette shared by the world's navies and is used when encountering warships at sea with higher-level commanders.

But this means that, if a South Korean ship takes part in Japan’s fleet review ceremony, South Korean naval commanders will have to salute the Japanese ship, which will have its Rising Sun flag raised.

Back in 2018, South Korea’s Navy demanded Japan’s maritime forces not fly the Rising Sun flag on its vessels set to participate in the 2018 South Korean fleet review, but Japan refused and ended up not attending the event.

To this point, Lee explained that, although "it is true that Japan did not attend the naval fleet review ceremony in 2018 because of the Rising Sun flag controversy, they did participate in fleet reviews twice before that, each time hoisting the JMSDF flag on its Japanese ships."

On Monday, Democratic Party lawmakers Sul Hoon and Kim Young-bae opposed South Korea’s participation in Japan’s fleet review.

Kim questioned whether the Ministry of National Defense was considering abolishing the “Japanese Aircraft Response Guidelines” in order to attend the fleet review ceremony.

The guidelines refer to instructions for the ROK Navy on how to use its fire-control radar when responding to Japanese aircraft. According to the guidelines, the radar should be directed to Japanese aircraft if it ignores warnings and flies at low altitudes.

Lee said that while it is “true” that the government is considering abolishing the guidelines, the question of whether or not to attend the fleet review and the issue of abolishing the guidelines “are separate matters.”

Sul, however, did not agree with Lee’s stance.

“When we asked them to lower the Rising Sun flag for our 2018 fleet review, Japanese ships backed out, so what would South Korean people say if we choose to now participate in the Japanese fleet review?”

Sul added that it might be wiser to send people instead of warships in order to prevent further problems.

In response, Lee said Sul’s remarks were “an important factor to take into consideration,” adding that they would “carefully consider it together."

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

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