Seoul and Tokyo defence chiefs hold first talks, with a North Korean mine blast on the agenda

South Korean Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul and Japanese Defence Minister Koizumi Shinjiro held their first one-on-one talks on 28 October, on the margins of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus in Cebu, the Philippines. According to readouts from both governments, the two agreed to keep working closely with each other and with the United States on North Korea.

Kang took office on 22 September, and the Cebu meeting was his first face-to-face session with Koizumi as well as his first appearance at a multilateral security gathering as minister. Koizumi congratulated him on his appointment, Japan's Jiji Press reported.

North Korea and the land mine

South Korea's defence ministry said the ministers reaffirmed that coordination among South Korea, the United States and Japan matters for countering North Korea's increasingly advanced nuclear and missile threats, given what it called a grave security environment on the Korean Peninsula. Japan's defence ministry said the two sides exchanged views on the regional situation, including the North's nuclear and missile development, and confirmed close cooperation both bilaterally and in the three-way format.

Kang briefed Koizumi on the explosion of a land mine placed by North Korea that injured three South Korean soldiers near the inter-Korean border in September. He also raised North Korea's work to fortify what it calls its border line, other steps that have raised military tension on the peninsula, and the deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, and he called for international coordination in response.

Technology cooperation

On bilateral matters, the ministers discussed defence exchanges, including cooperation in advanced science and technology such as artificial intelligence and unmanned systems. Seoul's ministry said they agreed to pursue defence cooperation in a stable, mutually beneficial and forward-looking way, and that defence officials would coordinate technology work suited to a changing battlefield.

Neither side announced a specific project, exercise or agreement from the meeting.

Context

The talks came as Japan prepares to revise its three core security documents, the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy and the Defense Buildup Program, by the end of 2026. The Financial News reported, citing Japanese government officials, that Tokyo is considering making denial capability the basic direction of its defence build-up, including closer work with countries that oppose changing the status quo by force.

The meeting gave the two recently paired counterparts a shared working agenda covering North Korea's weapons programmes, tension along the inter-Korean border, Russia's growing military ties with Pyongyang and cooperation on new defence technology. It also kept the three-way security framework with Washington at the centre of how both ministries describe their relationship, at a time when the Korean Peninsula remains tense.