Japanese Defense Minister Visits South Korea for First Time in a Decade

According to Kyodo news agency, on September 8, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and his South Korean counterpart Ahn Gyu Back agreed to increase exchanges through mutual visits, in the context that the two countries seek to maintain stable relations despite fluctuations in the world and in their own countries.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and his South Korean counterpart Ahn Gyu Back. (Source: AFP)

Mr. Nakatani - the first Japanese Defense Minister to visit South Korea in a decade - and Mr. Ahn Gyu Back affirmed the importance of bilateral security cooperation as well as trilateral cooperation with the US.

In a joint statement, the two ministers stated: “The two sides agreed that it is necessary to promote stable Japan-Korea and Japan-Korea-US defense cooperation in the context of a rapidly changing security environment, and shared the need to develop bilateral defense relations in a future-oriented manner.”

The meeting came a day after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation under pressure to take responsibility for the ruling coalition losing its majority in the Upper House in July.

Previously, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung also visited Japan in August to maintain the practice of regular exchanges at the leadership level, which had been interrupted due to disagreements over wartime history and other issues.

“To strengthen cooperation between the defense agencies of Japan and South Korea in a sustainable manner, it is necessary to patiently build trust,” Minister Nakatani told reporters after the talks.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ahn Gyu Back admitted that bilateral relations were “difficult” and stressed that “it took a long time for the two sides to meet again in this way.”

The two sides also agreed to step up regular consultations and personnel exchanges, including visits and defense ministerial-level meetings.

Minister Ahn expressed his hope that Minister Nakatani would visit Korea frequently and said he would also arrange to visit Japan to promote mutually beneficial development. According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense , the two countries will aim to maintain annual visits.

The two ministers welcomed Minister Nakatani’s visit to South Korea, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-South Korea relations (1965-2025). This is also Mr. Ahn’s first face-to-face meeting since taking office last July, after the two sides held an online conference in early August.

The joint statement stressed the “unwavering commitment” to the goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and affirmed the importance of trilateral cooperation with the United States to respond to North Korea’s weapons program.

According to the statement, Japan and South Korea will also “exploit the potential” for cooperation in advanced science and technology fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), unmanned systems and space.

Mr. Nakatani is scheduled to attend the Seoul Defense Dialogue on September 9, before returning to Japan./.

According to VNA

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/bo-truong-quoc-phong-nhat-ban-tham-han-quoc-lan-dau-tien-trong-1-thap-ky-qua-260949.htm