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Air Force to receive logistical support from Japan for first time

Published: 21 Jan. 2026, 19:10

The Air Force's Black Eagles team stages an air show in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on Oct. 19, 2025. [YONHAP]

Korea’s Air Force Black Eagles aerobatic team will refuel at Naha Air Base in Japan for the first time later this month, a symbolic step that officials and analysts see as a sign of easing defense tensions between Seoul and Tokyo.

The Black Eagles team will receive fuel at Japan’s Self-Defense Forces base when its T-50B trainer jets head overseas to take part in the World Defense Show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from Feb. 8 to 12, the Ministry of Defense and the Air Force said on Wednesday.

The deployment includes nine T-50B trainer jets, one of them a reserve aircraft, as well as four C-130 transport planes and about 120 service members. The team will depart from Wonju Air Base in eastern Korea on Wednesday and travel roughly 11,300 kilometers (7,021.5 miles) before arriving in Riyadh on Feb. 2.

The team will make stops at eight airports across six countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. The Naha base in Japan will serve as its first refueling stop, marking the first time the Air Force receives logistical support at a Japanese base.

A person watches the Air Force's Black Eagles team's air show in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on Oct. 19, 2025. [YONHAP]

The Air Force also plans to hold joint events with Blue Impulse, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's aerobatic team.

Some observers say the move could serve as an initial step toward a reciprocal logistics support agreement, known as an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), between Korea and Japan. Without an ACSA, Korean forces cannot receive logistical supplies in Japan, but Japanese authorities decided to provide fuel by citing provisions in the Self-Defense Forces law.

Defense officials from both countries attempted a similar refueling arrangement last October, but Japan withdrew approval after raising objections to the Black Eagles’ training flights near Dokdo that month. The incident emerged as an unexpected setback between the two countries' defense authorities just ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s first visit to Korea on Oct. 30, 2025.

The rejection forced the Air Force to abandon its planned participation in the Dubai air show in the United Arab Emirates after failing to secure an alternative stopover.

The incident strained bilateral defense ties, with the Defense Ministry canceling plans to send an Army military band to Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force's music festival in Tokyo and postponing joint search-and-rescue drills between the two navies.

Relations began to improve earlier this month as Korea and Japan prepared for a bilateral leaders’ summit.

President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Takaichi agreed on the importance of Korea-Japan cooperation and Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation for regional peace and stability during their summit on Jan. 13.

President Lee Jae Myung, left, poses with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Nara, Japan, on Jan. 13. [AP/YONHA]

Officials say the leaders' agreement to strengthen security cooperation helped restore defense exchanges.

In a related move, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back is coordinating a visit to Japan around Jan. 30 to meet with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi. Ahn is also considering a visit to Yokosuka Naval Base, home to a U.S. Navy base.

The Army, meanwhile, said about 400 officer cadets from Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force Officer Candidate School visited the Korea Army Academy at Yeongcheon in North Gyeongsang from Jan. 15 to Friday.

Some analysts say the Black Eagles chose Japan as a stopover to avoid the political and operational sensitivities associated with using Kaohsiung International Airport in Taiwan, where the team previously refueled. Heightened tensions between China and Taiwan have increased scrutiny of military movements involving the island, making such stopovers diplomatically sensitive for foreign military aircraft.

Korea also held a leaders’ summit with China on Jan. 5, which analysts say reinforced the need for caution in planning routes involving Taiwan.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE YU-JUNG [[email protected]]