Japanese and U.S. foreign and defense chiefs are expected to agree to review defense cooperation guidelines amid the changing security environment in the Asia-Pacific region when they meet in Tokyo on Oct. 3, a Japanese government source said Wednesday.
The so-called two-plus-two meeting will be the first for Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and their U.S. counterparts, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. It is also the first to be held in Japan since 1996, when the issue of replacing U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa was one of the major items.
In addition to the revision of the defense guidelines, they are also expected to bolster missile defense, namely to counter North Korea's ballistic missiles, and to discuss other security concerns, particularly China's growing maritime assertiveness, cybersecurity and the peaceful use of outer space, the source said.