A South Korean air force C-130H Hercules takes off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Dec. 8, 2024. (Taylor Slater/U.S. Air Force)
A South Korean military transport plane bound for Saudi Arabia made an emergency landing at a Japanese airport on Okinawa after the crew detected engine trouble, according to South Korea’s air force.
The C-130H Hercules landed at Naha International Airport at 11:01 a.m. Friday after reduced output was detected from one of the aircraft’s four turboprop engines, a South Korean air force spokesman said in a text message that day.
The aircraft departed Naha later that evening after repairs were completed, the spokesman said in a follow-up message Monday. He declined to provide further details.
The aircraft had departed Gimhae Airport in Busan, South Korea, early Friday en route to the World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia, the spokesman said Friday.
Mechanics aboard the aircraft confirmed the cause of the malfunction and replaced faulty parts, allowing the plane to resume its flight, he said.
The C-130H had an issue with an engine on its left side, and it took off from Naha headed for the Philippines at 6:50 p.m. following the repairs, an Okinawa Defense Bureau spokesman said by phone Monday. The landing did not affect any commercial flights, he added.
Some South Korean and Japanese government officials must speak to the press on condition of anonymity.
South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back “expressed appreciation to Japan” for allowing the emergency landing, the Ministry of National Defense said in a separate message Friday.
The emergency landing followed other recent South Korean military aviation activity on Okinawa. On Wednesday, nine T-50B Golden Eagle trainer jets flown by the country’s aerobatic team, the Black Eagles, refueled at the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s Naha Air Base while en route to the same Saudi air show. It marked the first time the team received refueling support from the Japanese military.
South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, second from left, and Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, far right, topur the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force base at Yokosuka on Jan. 30, 2026. (South Korea Ministry of National Defense)
The jets arrived with a South Korean C-130J Super Hercules and took part in a “unit-to-unit exchange” with a Kawasaki T-4 training jet from Japan’s aerobatic team, the Blue Impulse, according to an Air Self-Defense Force news release issued the next day.
In early November, Japan canceled a planned refueling stop by the Black Eagles at Naha, citing “a lack of coordination between the defense authorities of Japan and South Korea,” Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters Nov. 4 in Tokyo.
That stop was scrapped after the jets flew near Takeshima — a group of disputed islets known in South Korea as Dokdo – about 150 miles east of the Korean Peninsula, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. The islands are claimed by both countries.
The latest incident also follows a July episode in which a South Korean C-130 Hercules — en route to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam and low on fuel amid stormy weather — made an unapproved landing at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa. Japan scrambled fighter jets to intercept the aircraft after its uncleared approach.
South Korean authorities disciplined 10 people over the incident.
Stars and Stripes reporter Keishi Koja contributed to this report.
