Defense minister Lee Jong-sup reconfirmed Seoul's position that a Japanese patrol plane posed a threat as it conducted an unusually low flyby over a South Korean warship in 2018.

At a session of the parliamentary defense committee on Thursday, Lee said the core of the dispute is whether the South Korean naval vessel had locked its fire-control radar on the aircraft, with Tokyo asserting that the lock-on occurred while Seoul denies it.

The minister said the two sides held working-level discussions on the issue a number of times, and he expects talks will continue in the wake of a recent reconciliatory mood between the two neighboring countries.

As for calls by the main opposition Democratic Party(DP) to secure an apology from Tokyo, the minister only replied that related consultations will continue.

Lee added the matter was not discussed during last week's summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.