Northeast Asian Military Cooperation
Recently there has been some joint military training going on here in Northeast Asia between the two bitter neighbors Japan and Korea. On Thursday, the ROK and Japanese militaries conducted a anti-terrorism exercise in the Korea Strait:
The Korea Coast Guard and Japan’s Maritime Safety Agency each deployed one 3,000-ton patrol ship, a helicopter, a speed boat and special forces team members in the Korea Strait.
The exercise simulated a hijacking and hostage-taking aboard a 200-passenger ferry which travels between Busan and Osaka in Japan.
Patrol boats first blocked the ferry’s course, and special forces then boarded the vessel from helicopters and high-speed boats. Simulated injured passengers were flown to land by helicopter, while fleeing “terrorists” were hunted down by speed boats.
This exercise is being used as a train up for South Korean security forces leading up to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Busan this November.
Chinese Naval Vessel
Also on Thursday their was another military exercise going on off the coast of China. This one remarkably involved China, Korea, and Japan:
China on Thursday conducted its largest ever maritime search-and-rescue drill off the coast of Shanghai, with the participation of South Korea and Japan, in a rare sign of renewed cooperation between the Asian powers.
More than 600 staff and observers, 31 vessels and five planes participated in the 90-minute simulated rescue operation that began at 10:30 am (0230 GMT) in the East China Sea near the Yangshan deep water port.
The Chinese Ministry of Communications and the China Sea Search and Rescue Centre coordinated the reaction to the emergency drill, with the rescuing of sailors, fire fighting, the containment of oil spills and even the thwarting of a terrorist attack.
So what was Korea’s and Japan’s role in this exercise? Well, not really much:
Japan’s 1,200-tonne Satsuma joined a fleet parade and its crew exchanged views with Chinese maritime safety officials, while a guard ship from South Korea’s maritime police was also presenet during the exercise.
Hey, at least it is a start to building some kind of cooperation between these three countries.
