The Defense Agency has outlined an action plan for cooperating with U.S. forces during foreign attacks on Japan or emergencies in areas surrounding it, agency sources said Sunday.
An outline of the scheme, which has been studied by a panel of uniformed officers from Japan and the United States, is likely to be submitted to the "two plus two" meeting of foreign and defense ministers of the two countries, expected to be held in the U.S. late September, the sources said.
The plans stipulate courses of action for both Japan and the U.S. in various situations, but no specific details were available. A senior agency official said the contents are classified as top secret.
The two countries reviewed the operations as is required under the updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines implemented in 1997. The panel will continue studying details and updating the plans as situations change, the official said.
The revised guidelines called for closer Japanese cooperation with U.S. forces in case of an attack against Japan or an emergency in the surrounding areas.