Overview
- Defense ministers Ahn Gyu-back and Shinjiro Koizumi agreed in Yokosuka to revive bilateral naval search-and-rescue training, last held in 2017.
- The two sides will hold annual ministerial meetings with regular reciprocal visits to keep security dialogue on a predictable track.
- Seoul and Tokyo will activate personnel and unit exchanges and pursue collaboration in artificial intelligence, uncrewed systems, and space.
- Both reaffirmed coordination with the United States and restated their goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
- Ahn also boarded the USS George Washington to meet U.S. 7th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Patrick Hannifin, as Koizumi highlighted Japan’s first refueling of South Korea’s Black Eagles in Okinawa this week.