Seoul: South Korea and Japan on Sunday held a joint maritime search and rescue exercise (SAREX) for the first time in nine years, the South Korean Navy said. The drill was conducted by the South Korean Navy and Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force in international waters southeast of Jeju Island, according to the Navy. The exercise involved the South Korean Navy’s 4,900-tonne ROKS Cheon Ja Bong landing ship, Japan’s 7,250-tonne Aegis-equipped Kongo destroyer, and a Japanese maritime patrol helicopter, Yonhap news agency reported. The drills had been suspended since the 10th round in 2017, as bilateral ties soured following a dispute over a Japanese maritime patrol aircraft making an unusually low-altitude flyby over a South Korean warship in December 2018. (IANS)
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