April 19, 2019
On April 19th, commencing at around 11:20 a.m. (local time) for approximately 40 minutes, Mr. Takeshi Iwaya, Minister of Defense, and Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs, held a meeting with Ambassador John Bolton, National Security Advisor of the United States, during their visit to Washington DC, the United States. The overview of the meeting is as follows.
1. At the beginning, Defense Minister Iwaya and Foreign Minister Kono explained to NSA Bolton the summary of the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (Japan-U.S. “2+2”). held right before the meeting, and said that they would like to make the outcomes for a foundation of success in the upcoming mutual visits at the summit levels as well as further strengthening of the Japan-U.S. Alliance. NSA Bolton agreed on this.
2. In addition, regarding the situation in North Korea, both sides closely aligned future policies towards the resolutions of abductions, nuclear, and missile issues, taking into account the recent situation following the second U.S.-North Korea summit. Both sides reconfirmed that Japan and the United States, as well as among Japan, the United States, and the ROK will continue to coordinate closely. The two sides reaffirmed that Japan and the United States will continue to work together towards the early resolution of the abductions issue.
3. Furthermore, both sides had an exchange of views on the regional affairs based on the Minister Kono’s recent visit to China.