The head of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force(MSDF) said on Tuesday that security cooperation between South Korea and Japan is more important than reaching consensus on the 2018 radar lock-on incident.

MSDF Chief of Staff Admiral Ryo Sakai said at a press conference that the top priority for Japan is strengthening bilateral cooperation for the future and jointly contributing to regional security.

Sakai said that although the two countries certainly have different perceptions about the maritime incident, establishing a system of cooperation soon is more important and accords with his country's national interests.

The admiral also noted that an increase in joint activities featuring aircraft and ships in the same area will increase trust between Seoul and Tokyo.

The remarks came after South Korean defense minister Lee Jong-sup and his Japanese counterpart, Yasukazu Hamada, agreed to prevent a recurrence of the maritime dispute in their talks on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday.

The dispute over unusually low-altitude flybys conducted by Japanese maritime patrol aircraft over South Korean warships in December 2018 and January 2019 was the biggest obstacle for defense exchanges between the two nations.

Seoul has taken issue with what it has decried as a "menacing" low-altitude flight by a Japanese patrol plane near a South Korean destroyer in December 2018, while Tokyo has accused the South Korean vessel of locking its fire-control radar on the Japanese plane.