TOKYO - The South Korean Navy has informed Japan that it will not participate in a joint search and rescue drill with the latter's Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF), which was scheduled for later this month, local media reported Monday.

While the two countries are arranging to cancel the joint exercise, they aim to calm the situation and avoid escalating tension that could damage bilateral relations, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported, citing sources from both governments.

South Korea's withdrawal from the drill is believed to be related to Japan's cancellation of planned refueling support for South Korean Air Force planes at a Self-Defense Forces base earlier this month, the report said.

ALSO READ: ROK offers to hold military talks with DPRK

The planned refueling was scrapped by Japan following revelations that South Korea had conducted training flights near the disputed islets lying halfway between the two countries, called Dokdo by South Korea and Takeshima by Japan.

The scheduled joint drill was intended as a chance for vessels from both countries to cooperate and confirm the sequence of rescue operations. Exercises like this were held 10 times between 1999 and 2017, but ceased after a 2018 incident in which a South Korean navy ship locked fire-control radar onto an MSDF patrol aircraft.