Japan, S. Korea defense ministers agree to boost communication
Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani and his South Korean counterpart, Ahn Gyu-back, agreed Monday to strengthen bilateral communication, including through mutual visits to each other's countries.
The two defence chiefs, meeting in Seoul for their first in-person talks since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung took office in June, also agreed to promote three-way cooperation among the two countries and the United States to counter threats from North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
"Persistently fostering rapport is essential for sustainably strengthening cooperation and coordination between the two sides," Nakatani told reporters after the meeting.
He said that the two ministers did not discuss Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's announcement on Sunday that he will resign.
It was the first trip by a Japanese defence minister to the neighbouring country since October 2015, when Nakatani also held the post. He had mulled a visit in 2024, but it was postponed due to political turmoil after martial law was briefly declared in South Korea that year.
In a joint statement released after the meeting on Monday, Nakatani and Ahn stressed the importance of working together to address deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. They also reaffirmed their commitment to denuclearising the Korean Peninsula.
Exchanges between Japanese and South Korean defence officials had been briefly suspended following a 2018 incident in which the South Korean Navy directed fire-control radar at a Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force aircraft.
Seoul has not admitted to directing the radar, but the two sides agreed to prevent recurrences and increase exchanges at a meeting of their defence ministers in June 2024.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
