In the strongest remarks yet by a South Korean official, South Korea’s Defense Minister Han Min-Koo, at a news briefing with visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, called for freedom of the seas and the skies in the South China Sea. He said “It is our stance that freedom of navigation and freedom of flight should be ensured in this area, and that any conflicts be resolved according to relevant agreements and established international norms,"

(Comment: South Korea also has a small territorial dispute with China with both countries claiming a submerged rock in the Yellow Sea, known internationally as the Socotra Rock, and called Suyan Rock by China and Ieodo by South Korea.)