Korean Aerobatics Team to Refuel in Japanese Base Enroute to Saudi Arabian Airshow

South Korea’s Air Force Black Eagles aerobatic team will refuel at Japan’s Naha Air Base for the first time while deploying to Saudi Arabia, hinting at a thawing of relations between the two countries.

Korea’s defense ministry and the Air Force said on Wednesday that the team’s T-50B trainer jets will receive fuel at the Japan Self-Defense Forces base en route to the World Defense Show in Riyadh, scheduled for Feb. 8–12. The deployment includes nine T-50B aircraft, including one reserve jet, four C-130 transport planes, and about 120 service members.

The team departed Wonju Air Base in eastern Korea on Wednesday and will now travel roughly 11,300 km, arriving in Riyadh on Feb. 2. The route includes stops at eight airports across six countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. Naha will serve as the first refueling stop, marking the first time South Korea’s Air Force has received logistical support at a Japanese base.

During the stopover, the Air Force plans joint events with Blue Impulse, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s aerobatic team.

The move could serve as an initial step toward signing Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) between Korea and Japan. In the absence of such an agreement, Korean forces are generally unable to receive logistical supplies in Japan. Japanese authorities approved the refueling by citing provisions of the Self-Defense Forces law.

The decision follows a failed attempt last October, when Japan withdrew approval for a similar plan after objecting to Black Eagles training flights near Dokdo. The reversal forced the Air Force to abandon its planned participation in the Dubai air show in the U.A.E. after it failed to secure an alternative stopover.

That episode disrupted defense exchanges, prompting Seoul to cancel plans to send an Army military band to a Ground Self-Defense Force music festival in Tokyo and to postpone bilateral naval search-and-rescue drills.

Defense ties began to recover this month ahead of renewed high-level engagement. During a leaders’ summit on Jan. 13, President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi agreed on the importance of Korea-Japan cooperation and trilateral coordination with the U.S. for regional security. Officials said the agreement helped restore defense interactions.

In related news, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back is coordinating a visit to Japan around Jan. 30 to meet his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi and is considering a visit to Yokosuka Naval Base, which hosts a U.S. Navy base. Separately, about 400 officer cadets from Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force visited the Korea Army Academy in Yeongcheon from Jan. 15 through Friday.

Analysts also say Japan was chosen as a stopover to avoid the political and operational sensitivities associated with Taiwan, where the Black Eagles previously refueled at Kaohsiung International Airport. Rising tensions between China and Taiwan have increased scrutiny of military movements involving the island. Korea’s leaders’ summit with China on Jan. 5 further underscored the need for caution in routing military flights through the area.