Vietnamese Defense Minister Sr. Lt. Gen. Pham Van Tra will visit Tokyo next week to discuss the security of the Asia-Pacific region with his Japanese counterpart, Hosei Norota, the Defense Agency said Thursday.
Issues to be discussed at the bilateral summit talks scheduled for Tuesday include China -- the biggest military presence for Vietnam, according to agency officials.
The leaders are also expected to map out concrete steps to exchange defense personnel between Japan and Vietnam in the future, the officials said. The visit by Pham, who will be the first Vietnamese defense minister to visit Japan, will follow then Defense Agency chief Fumio Kyuma's visit to Vietnam in January. Pham will be in Tokyo from Monday through Friday.