Defence chiefs of South Korea, Japan to meet in Seoul for 1st time in decade

Seoul, Sep 5 The defence chiefs of South Korea and Japan will hold talks in Seoul next week, the South's defence ministry said, marking what would be the first official visit to South Korea by a Japanese defence minister since 2015.

The meeting between Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back and his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani, comes as Nakatani is set to visit Seoul to attend the Seoul Defence Dialogue, an annual security forum hosted by Seoul's defence ministry.

In phone talks held last month, Ahn and Nakatani agreed to continue with their bilateral security cooperation as well as trilateral cooperation involving the United States and meet at an early date to hold in-depth discussions.

Nakatani had initially planned to visit Seoul in December last year but the trip was canceled following former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid.

Alongside Nakatani, the defence chiefs of four other countries -- Croatia, Mongolia, the Philippines and South Africa -- will join the three-day security forum set to take place from Monday through Wednesday, according to the ministry.

The event will also bring together the chair of the NATO military committee, vice defence chiefs of eight nations and security experts and professionals from 68 countries.

This year's forum will be held under the theme "Confronting Geopolitical Challenges: Building Peace through Cooperation."

Earlier on August, the defence chiefs of South Korea and Japan held phone talks and had agreed to continue with their bilateral security cooperation, as well as trilateral cooperation also involving the United States, the South's defence ministry had said.

Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back and his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani had reached a consensus on such cooperation in their first phone conversation since Ahn took office as Seoul's new defense chief last month.

Ahn had underscored the importance of close bilateral coordination in the face of geopolitical uncertainties and security risks as the two countries mark the 60th anniversary of the normalisation of their diplomatic relations this year, Yonhap news agency reported.

In response, Nakatani had congratulated Ahn on his inauguration and stressed that South Korea is an important partner for Japan in dealing with various issues in the international community, the ministry said.

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