EGN NEWS DESK
South Korea’s protection ministry stated Thursday that Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani will go to the nation by the top of this yr.
Nakatani agreed on his first go to to South Korea as Japan’s protection chief since October 2015 at a gathering together with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-hyun, within the Lao capital of Vientiane the identical day, in response to the ministry.
Itineraries shall be fastened later, however the go to is very prone to be scheduled for late subsequent month, individuals aware of the matter stated.
No Japanese protection minister has made a visit to the neighboring nation within the 9 years since Nakatani’s earlier go to as then-defense chief.
Japan-South Korea protection ties soured after a fire-control radar rock-on incident involving a South Korean warship and a Self-Defense Force plane in 2018. But the protection ministries of the 2 nations have reactivated interchanges since their chiefs agreed on measures to stop such a harmful occasion from taking place once more in June this yr.
Meanwhile, Nakatani and Kim condemned the improved navy ties between Russia and North Korea, which have led to Pyongyang’s dispatch of troops to help the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ministry stated.
The ministers additionally acknowledged the need of not solely bilateral however trilateral cooperation involving the United States and underscored the significance of retaining growing the cooperative ties beneath the extreme safety surroundings, during which North Korea has been sophisticating its nuclear and missile capabilities.
Nakatani has expressed his eagerness to go to South Korea as quickly as potential since taking workplace final month.
He significantly hopes to reaffirm the importance of the trilateral cooperation earlier than U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who focuses not on cooperation however on offers, takes the oath of workplace in January, an knowledgeable supply stated.
