Koizumi conveys defense spending plan to Hegseth
Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi conveyed his country's plan to achieve its defence spending target two years ahead of schedule, during a meeting with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan will raise its defence spending to 2 per cent of its gross domestic product by the end of the current fiscal year, instead of the originally planned fiscal 2027, Koizumi told Hegseth in their first meeting.
He also said that Japan has begun a review of three security documents.
Koizumi was appointed to the defence post in the cabinet of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi inaugurated last week.
"We will strengthen the Japan-US alliance with unprecedented speed," Koizumi told a joint press conference after the hour-long meeting.
"It's an important step forward, and the one that we hope will be implemented and believe will be as soon as possible," Hegseth said, referring to the new defence spending target from Japan.
Asked about specific numerical goals, Hegseth said, "There were certainly no demands placed on Japan from the United States."
The US Defence Department has said that allies in Asia should spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence, as NATO allies have pledged to do so.
Koizumi and Hegseth reaffirmed the importance of deepening multilateral defence cooperation among countries, including Australia, South Korea and the Philippines, in addition to Japan and the United States, in an apparent effort to counter military threats from China.
The two ministers agreed to promote defence equipment and technology cooperation, such as joint missile production. They also agreed to work closely to relocate the US Marine Corps' Futenma air station in the southernmost prefecture of Japan, Okinawa.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
