(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are important neighboring countries that should cooperate with each other as partners on various issues facing the international community. Additionally, last year marked the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and the ROK. Against this backdrop, I met with Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-Back in Malaysia last November, and today, I welcomed Minister Ahn here in Yokosuka. A defense ministerial meeting was held in Yokosuka for the first time. I would like to thank everyone who helped make this possible, including the Headquarters Yokosuka District that was involved with the preparations up to the meeting. The highlights of today’s meeting were as follows. To stably promote cooperation and exchanges between defense authorities, Minister Ahn and I concurred to make reciprocal visits and hold a defense ministerial meeting every year, as if we are continuing today’s table tennis rally. Next time, I, Minister of Defense, will visit the ROK with the aim of enhancing communication between the defense authorities. A Japan-ROK Summit Meeting was just held in Nara, the home prefecture of the Prime Minister, and a Japan-ROK Defense Ministerial Meeting was held today in Yokosuka, the hometown of the Defense Minister. Rarely in the world are meetings ever held in the hometowns of both the head of state and defense minister, and I believe the fact that we did demonstrates the significant role played by Japan-ROK defense cooperation in regional security amid the current severe security environment. In addition, to deepen mutual understanding and trust between the Self-Defense Forces and the ROK Armed Forces, we confirmed that we will vitalize people-to-people and unit exchanges. As part of this effort, we welcomed the exchanges held this month between the students of the Ground Self-Defense Force’s Officer Candidate School and the students of Korea Army Academy at Yeongcheon, as well as the exchanges by the ROK Air Force’s Black Eagles with the Air Self-Defense Force. We also concurred to hold a humanitarian search and rescue exercise (SAREX), which has not been held for approximately ten years, between the Maritime Self-Defense Force and the ROK Navy. Furthermore, from the viewpoint of developing Japan-ROK defense cooperative relations in a future-oriented and mutually beneficial manner, we confirmed that discussions between defense authorities will be held to explore cooperation in advanced science and technology fields, such as artificial intelligence, unmanned systems, and outer space. At today’s meeting, we also exchanged views on the regional situation surrounding the two countries, including North Korea, and concurred that the two countries will work together to maintain peace and stability in the region in an increasingly severe security environment. Lastly, the fact that I was able to welcome Minister Ahn to my hometown of Yokosuka in less than three months since our meeting in Malaysia testifies not only that Japan and the ROK are geographically close countries that share a severe security environment, but also that the two countries have a close relationship, also in terms of sharing many common cultures and perspectives. Following the meeting, we enjoyed a game of table tennis, which is a hobby of Minister Ahn. Through this and other interactions, we deepened our personal relationship of trust and friendship and further strengthened our trust in each other. I understand that Minister Ahn plays table tennis every day. While I am nowhere at that level yet, I believe today’s rally set a precedent for continuing to advance the Japan-ROK defense cooperation in a tangible and positive way, rather than trying to score against each other. I would like to thank everyone who was involved in today’s meeting.