Amid high tensions between Seoul and Tokyo due to their radar dispute and historical issues,... a Japanese military patrol aircraft yet AGAIN, conducted ANOTHER low-altitude fly-by near a South Korean warship earlier this week.
And despite the release of photos from the incident by Seoul's defense ministry,... Tokyo continues to deny that it engaged in such provocations.
South Korea countered by saying... the Japanese government must provide evidence... to prove its claims of innocence.
Our Kan Hyeong-woo has this story.
On Friday, Seoul's Ministry of National Defense urged Tokyo to provide evidence... if it really thinks the Japanese plane did not fly in a threatening way near the Korean ship.

A day earlier, the defense ministry released five photographs taken from the naval destroyer Daejoyeong showing what it said was a Japanese maritime patrol aircraft flying near the ship in an "aggressive" manner at a low altitude.

But Tokyo has denied Seoul's claims,... saying the plane was on a regular mission -- that it was not flying in a threatening way and that it was not at the low altitude South Korea asserts.


"I received a report from the Defense Ministry saying that there was no proof that a Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane flew in the way South Korea claimed, and that it had flown appropriately."

In response to Japan's denial,... an official at South Korea's defense ministry said if Japan believes the pictures Seoul released are not proof, then Tokyo has to explain why and provide its own evidence.

But according to Kyodo News Agency, Japan's Ministry of Defense told reporters on Friday that Tokyo does not intend to offer such evidence.

The latest flyby has raised tensions between the neighbors even further.
This series of disputed encounters between their militaries began last month in the East Sea when Japan claimed a South Korean warship used its targeting radar on a Japanese plane,... something Seoul says there is no evidence for.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News.