According to a report by Japan's Yahoo News Network on September 8, the US media previously reported that the US military is considering purchasing frigates from abroad, and that South Korea's Chungnam class, Japan's top class, and Turkey's Istanbul class are listed as candidates. In response, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Saito Satoshi said on the 8th that he was “very happy” about this. However, a number of Japanese and South Korean media said that out of these three candidate proposals, South Korea is most likely to win the bid, and Japan may just “run with it.”

According to a report by Japan's Yahoo News Network on September 8, the US media previously reported that the US military is considering purchasing frigates from abroad, and that South Korea's Chungnam class, Japan's top class, and Turkey's Istanbul class are listed as candidates. In response, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Saito Satoshi said on the 8th that he was “very happy” about this. However, a number of Japanese and South Korean media said that out of these three candidate proposals, South Korea is most likely to win the bid, and Japan may just “run with it.”