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UK Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom waves at the HMS Queen Elizabeth as it arrives at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan on Saturday. (Twitter screenshot)

The HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK’s latest aircraft carrier, docked at the Japanese port of Yokosuka on Saturday.

The carrier’s arrival is drawing attention for coming shortly after the cancellation of plans for a stop in Busan late last month.

Japan’s NHK reported Sunday, “The British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived at Yokosuka Naval Base, the home port of the US 7th Fleet.”

It added that the carrier would “be taking part in joint exercises with the Japan Self-Defense Forces.”

The Queen Elizabeth was originally scheduled to put in at Busan late last month, but the plan failed to come to fruition. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense attributed the change in plans to the “severe COVID-19 situation.”

As a result, the South Korean and UK navies had to content themselves with downscaled exchange activities, including exercises in the southern waters of the East Sea on Aug. 31 that focused on humanitarian support and disaster relief efforts.

Japan, which is also struggling with the same COVID-19 pandemic woes, accepted the Queen Elizabeth’s arrival four days later.

Shortly after the carrier’s arrival at Yokosuka, Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the carrier strike group, tweeted in Japanese, “The British carrier strike group has arrived in Japan to conduct exercises and exchanges with Japan, our closest security partner in the region. UK-Japan relations are very important for the UK’s involvement in security and stability in the region.”

In a one-minute, 36-second video in English that he posted along with the tweet, he said, “With Japan and other like-minded countries in the region, the United Kingdom is committed to upholding democratic values and tackling shared threats.”

Shortly after the carrier approached the port, UK Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom tweeted in Japanese, “The aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has arrived in Japan. It is a great honor to welcome the ship as it docks at Yokosuka.”

The differing attitudes shown by South Korea and Japan toward the Queen Elizabeth as major powers and key US allies in the Indo-Pacific could be seen as reflecting their different strategic determinations about the “Indo-Pacific vision,” which has been broadening in scope to include the participation of major European countries.

While Japan is looking to join the UK and other European countries in intensifying an Indo-Pacific approach with the basic aim of reining in China, South Korea is working hard to maintain a delicate balance between the US and China.

Having arrived in Japan, the Queen Elizabeth is joining other arriving warships from the US and Netherlands in a multilateral exercise called Pacific Crown 21-3 through Tuesday.

In a Thursday press release sharing news of the exercise, the Japanese Maritime Staff Office said, “The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force will be conducting joint exercises with the navies of the UK, the US, the Netherlands, and Canada to strengthen unity toward achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The exercises are taking place over a broad expanse of waters stretching from the East China Sea — where a territorial dispute is underway between China and Japan — to the waters south of Japan’s Kanto region.

The exercises will also be an occasion for showing off the Queen Elizabeth’s F-35B aircraft, which possesses vertical takeoff and landing capabilities.

By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]