South Korea accuses Japan of ‘distorting facts’ of the incident, which it describes as a humanitarian mission involving a stricken North Korean vessel
Seoul accused Tokyo of “distorting facts” and made a fresh call for an apology on Friday, amid an escalating row between the two neighbours over allegations that a South Korean warship locked its fire-control radar onto a Japanese plane.
The incident occurred on December 20 as the South Korean vessel was attempting to conduct a “humanitarian rescue operation”, according to the country’s defence ministry.
To back up its claim that the Japanese aircraft was flying low and in a “threatening” manner, the ministry released a clip composed of footage shot from sea level combined with video filmed from the aircraft that Tokyo had released earlier.
“The release is aimed to provide accurate facts as distorted facts have been unilaterally disseminated to internet users across the globe by a video clip uploaded by Japan” said ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo.
“We once again urge Japan to stop actions that distort the facts and to apologise for carrying out a low-altitude flight around our warship which was on a humanitarian rescue operation.”
South Korea’s video, which was uploaded to YouTube, shows the Japanese aircraft circling overhead as the crew of the warship radio a North Korean fishing boat that was drifting near the inter-Korean sea border. A South Korean sailor can be heard saying that the North Koreans were asking for warm drinking water.
The footage is overlaid with subtitles and intersected by title cards throughout.
