Japan not inviting South Korea to naval review amid dispute
Japan has announced it is not inviting South Korea to an upcoming multinational naval review it is hosting next month because their ties are badly strained over history, trade and defense.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force, Japan’s navy, said Sept. 24 it will not invite the South Korean navy for the review, scheduled for Oct. 14 at Sagami Bay, west of Tokyo.
The head of the maritime force, Adm. Hiroshi Yamamura, says the decision was made because of the “severe condition of current Japan-South Korea relations.”
Tensions between the two Asian neighbors have escalated since July, when Japan tightened export controls against South Korea.
Defense officials said seven countries – the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, India, Singapore and China – are invited to the naval review. AP
Russian aircraft violates airspace of NATO member Estonia
Moscow’s ambassador to Estonia has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry after a Russian military aircraft again briefly violated the airspace of the Baltic NATO member.
Estonia’s military said Sept. 24 that a Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-34 fighter spent less than one minute in Estonian airspace late Sept. 23 near the Baltic Sea island of Vaindloo.
It said the plane’s transponder was switched off, no flight plan had been filed and the pilot failed to keep radio contact with Estonian air navigation officials.
Vaindloo is near a corridor where Russian planes fly from the St. Petersburg area to Russia’s Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad between Poland and Lithuania.
Estonia’s military said the incident was the second air violation of Estonia’s airspace by a Russian aircraft this year. AP
Fund compensating Boeing crash victims starts taking claims
A $50 million fund for compensating families of people killed in crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes has begun taking claims.
Fund officials said Sept. 23 they have begun accepting applications, with a deadline of Dec. 31 for submitting claims.
Boeing is providing money for the fund, which works out to nearly $145,000 for each of the 346 people who died in crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Dozens of families are suing the company.
Administrators of the fund include Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw compensation for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
The 737 Max remains grounded. The Federal Aviation Administration is meeting with international regulators to explain its review of changes that Boeing is making in the plane, including updates to a flight-control system implicated in the accidents. AP
France floats tariffs on US goods amid Airbus-Boeing dispute
France’s finance minister says Europe is ready to impose retaliatory tariffs next year on U.S. goods as part of a long-running dispute over subsidies to plane makers Airbus and Boeing.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters Sept. 19 that “trade wars are good for no one,” noting damage caused worldwide by the U.S.-China trade conflict.
But he said Europe is bracing for possible U.S. sanctions over the plane subsidy dispute, and that “Americans should know that we are ready to react.”
He said he’s pushing for a “friendly agreement” with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lightizer.
The World Trade Organization ruled in May that Europe illegally subsidized Airbus, hurting U.S. competitor Boeing. The European Union has brought a similar case at the WTO accusing the U.S. government of illegally subsidizing Boeing. AP