Seoul's defense ministry said Vice Defense Minister Lee Doo-hee and Japanese counterpart Atsushi Ando agreed in Tokyo to keep coordinating on North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
Senior defense officials from South Korea and Japan reaffirmed cooperation against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats during talks in Tokyo, Seoul's defense ministry said on Friday, Yonhap reported. Vice Defense Minister Lee Doo-hee met Japanese counterpart Atsushi Ando on a two-day visit that began Thursday.
Lee also paid a courtesy call on Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi. The trip followed an invitation from Ando, who visited Seoul in May for security-policy consultations and in September for the Seoul Defense Dialogue.
The ministry said the two sides stressed coordination between Seoul and Tokyo and among South Korea, the United States and Japan, citing a changing security environment and conditions on the Korean Peninsula. They also agreed to pursue exchanges in artificial intelligence and unmanned systems.
Yonhap said the defense ministry supplied a photograph of the Tokyo meeting. The report did not include a new joint exercise date or a weapons sale.
The account is the South Korean ministry's readout, carried by Yonhap. A separate Japanese text was not quoted.
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- The defense ministry said the officials reaffirmed close coordination on North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.