NHK reported that Defense Minister Onodera informed reporters on Tuesday that South Korea has told Japan that an ROK tanker was not involved in the transfer of goods to a North Korea tanker in international waters in the East China Sea earlier this month as alleged by Japan. An MSDF ship spotted a South Korean tanker alongside a North Korean tanker in the East China Sea on May 3, and the GOJ asked the ROK government whether the two vessels were involved in the transfer of goods.