Koizumi and Kang hold first talks since the Yasukuni visit and agree to step up defence ties

Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and South Korean Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul held their first one-on-one talks on 28 October on the sidelines of the 13th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus in Cebu, the Philippines, and agreed to make defence cooperation between their countries more active, according to Japan's Ministry of Defense and Seoul's defence ministry.

Kyodo News reported that it was the first face-to-face meeting between the two countries' defence ministers since Koizumi visited Yasukuni Shrine on 15 August. Kang took office in September in a cabinet reshuffle under President Lee Jae-myung, and he previously served as deputy commander of the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command, the agency said.

According to the Japanese ministry's readout, Koizumi congratulated Kang on his appointment and said he wanted the two sides to work closely on the basis of firm mutual trust. The ministers exchanged views on the regional situation, including North Korea's nuclear and missile development, and confirmed that they would keep coordinating closely both bilaterally and in the Japan-US-South Korea framework.

The readout said both ministers welcomed the close communication between senior defence officials of the two countries this year and agreed to keep up that momentum and further invigorate bilateral defence cooperation.

Seoul's defence ministry said the two ministers reaffirmed the importance of three-way coordination with the United States in responding to North Korea's increasingly advanced nuclear and missile threats, given what it described as a grave security environment on the Korean Peninsula. They also discussed defence exchanges in advanced science and technology fields such as artificial intelligence and unmanned systems, and agreed to pursue cooperation in a mutually beneficial and forward-looking way, Yonhap and Newsis reported.

Mine blast and Moscow ties on the agenda

Kang briefed Koizumi on the explosion of a land mine placed by North Korea that injured three South Korean soldiers, an incident Newsis dated to September. He stressed the need for international coordination to deal with rising military tension along the inter-Korean border and the deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, according to Yonhap.

Newsis reported that Kang raised the same points in separate meetings in Cebu with the defence ministers of Australia, Malaysia, India and the Philippines. To build personal trust, Koizumi proposed that the two ministers go through a training course together that Kang had taken during his army career, and Kang replied that it was a good idea, Kyodo reported.

Koizumi's message to the wider forum

At the ADMM-Plus plenary session on 29 October, Koizumi sought understanding for Japan's plan to revise its three main security policy documents within the year, Kyodo reported. He told the forum that Japan's exclusively defence-oriented policy would never change and that Japan would lead by example on transparency. Kyodo said the remarks appeared to be aimed at Beijing, which has criticised the Takaichi government's defence build-up.

Koizumi also referred to Japan's April revision of its rules on defence equipment transfers, which opened the way to exports of lethal weapons. He said what had changed was Japan's ability to defend itself and contribute to the region, while its post-war path as a peaceful nation, its commitment to the rule of law and its respect for sovereignty had not. He added that in crisis management the key test was whether a minister could make the first phone call without hesitation if a serious incident occurred at sea, according to Kyodo.

Why it matters

Japan and South Korea are Washington's two treaty allies in Northeast Asia, and the meeting suggests their defence ministries are keeping working-level and ministerial contacts on track after the Yasukuni visit. Both readouts put three-way coordination with the United States on North Korea at the centre, while the mention of AI and unmanned systems points to an emerging technology strand in a relationship that has so far focused on missile warning and crisis communication.