The Defense Ministry has again urged Japan to apologize for a Japanese maritime patrol aircraft making a threateningly low flight over a South Korean navy vessel in the East Sea last month.  

In a statement Tuesday, the ministry rejected Japan's repeated claim that a South Korean warship locked its fire-control radar on the Japanese aircraft during an incident last month. 

The ministry also criticized an audio clip of alleged radar sound that Japan unveiled on Monday as evidence of its claim.  

The ministry said there were many radars under operation at the time and that Tokyo has offered no evidence to corroborate that the mechanical sound was from the South Korean warship.

The statement emphasized that the South Korean warship was on a humanitarian mission to rescue a North Korean ship drifting in international waters in the East Sea, and urged Tokyo to apologize and come up with measures to prevent the recurrence of a similar case.