In the first visit to South Korea by a Japanese defense chief in a decade, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani met with his counterpart in Seoul on Monday, with the two sides agreeing to make mutual visits a regular practice and staking out areas of high-tech defense cooperation.
Nakatani and South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said in a joint statement that they had reached the deal to enhance communication and boost personnel exchanges, “including mutual visits by the ministers and defense ministerial meetings.”
“As an example of personnel exchanges, the two ministers welcomed the participation of the South Korean military band in the Self-Defense Forces Music Festival scheduled for this November,” the statement said.
Although a seemingly minor step, the move represents a sea change for the two sides’ defense authorities after ties deteriorated following a 2018 incident that saw a South Korean warship direct its fire-control radar at a Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane. Seoul had denied the allegation and mutual trust between the two sides deteriorated over the row.
The relationship began to improve last year, when the Japanese and South Korean defense chiefs agreed to restore bilateral defense and security cooperation and to take measures to prevent a repeat of the incident, paving the way for a trip to Japan in July 2024 by then-South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik — the first such trip by a South Korean defense chief in 15 years.
The two sides also said they had “decided to explore possibilities for future-oriented and mutually beneficial cooperation in advanced science and technology fields such as artificial intelligence, unmanned systems and space” — a move that would benefit both countries as they look to develop next-generation technologies.
Nakatani’s visit comes at a time of rising concern over nuclear-armed North Korea’s growing three-way ties with Russia and China, following leader Kim Jong Un’s landmark visit to Beijing for a massive military parade, where he watched the event alongside Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In their joint statement, Nakatani and Ahn “emphasized the need to jointly address deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea,” while reiterating “their firm commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
The two also agreed to continue to “steadily advance” both bilateral security cooperation and trilateral ties with the United States “amid the rapidly changing security environment.”
Nakatani will on Tuesday attend the Seoul Defense Dialogue, an annual security forum hosted by the South's Defense Ministry. The Japanese defense minister had planned to visit Seoul last December, but the trip was put off in the wake of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid.
The visit comes just a day after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced that he would be resigning from his post in the coming weeks — a move that could have broad ramifications for Tokyo’s relationships with its neighbors, especially Seoul.
Ishiba met with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung late last month for talks that highlighted the neighbors’ desire to put their historical baggage behind them and focus on economic and security cooperation — especially as both look to manage relations with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
In a symbol of the importance that Lee has placed on ties with Japan, he made Tokyo his first destination abroad as leader — the first time a South Korean president has visited Japan before the United States, the two Asian nations’ mutual ally, since Tokyo and Seoul normalized diplomatic ties in 1965.
But, while the leaders used their first joint statement in 17 years to emphasize the need to work “as partners” to address “various challenges facing the international community,” Ishiba’s departure could throw a wrench into that push — especially if a more conservative successor who is less willing to compromise on historical issues is chosen.
The June election of Lee — who had been known for his hard-line views on Japan — had raised concerns in Tokyo that he might reverse agreements to resolve contentious historical issues reached under Yoon that led to a thaw in ties, while also halting trilateral military cooperation with the United States.
A senior official with South Korea’s Presidential Office told the Yonhap news agency on Monday that Seoul and Tokyo "have reached a broad consensus on building future-oriented and stable relations.”
"We expect the two nations to continue positive relations going forward despite Ishiba's resignation,” the official said.
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