세월호 침몰과 관련해, 오노데라 이쓰노리(小野寺五典) 일본 방위상은 18일 한국의 요청이 있을 경우, 사고지점에 자국의 해상 자위대 소해정및 잠수부들을 파견하겠다고 밝혔다.
그는 이날 기자들에게 "현 단계에서 (한국의) 요청은 없지만 요청이 있으면 신속히 대응하겠다"고 덧붙였다.
교도통신에 따르면 아베 신조(安倍晋三) 총리는 이날 각료 간담회에서 "한국의 요청이 있으면 대응할 수 있도록 하라"고 각료들에게 지시했다.
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)
<관련 영문 기사>
[Ferry Disaster] Japan says ready to dispatch Maritime Self-Defense Force to help rescue efforts
Japan is ready to dispatch its Maritime Self-Defense Force and coast guard to assist the search-and-rescue operation for the sunken ferry Sewol, Japanese Defense Minister Isunori Onodera said Friday.
“We have not been asked by (the Korean government), but once requested, we are ready to make a speedy move,” Onodera told reporters, Kyodo News reported.
The statement came after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged his Cabinet members earlier in the day to “make sure to give a swift response when Korea requests it.”
“We have been offered a hand in the search by many countries including Japan,” an official at Seoul’s Defense Ministry, declining to make further comment.
The search operations haves continued for the 272 missing passengers, most of them high school students, after their ferry sank off South Korea’s southern coast a day earlier. As of Saturday 5:35 p.m., only 174 of 476 passengers have been rescued, while 30 were officially confirmed dead.
By Chung Joo-won (
joowonc@heraldcorp.com)
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