S Korea, Japan reaffirm pledge to denuclearize Korean peninsula
The defense ministers of South Korea and Japan reaffirmed on Sunday their countries’ commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, despite Pyongyang’s repeated pledges to expand its nuclear arsenal.
The meeting comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to strengthen his country’s defense capabilities, including equipping its navy with nuclear weapons and pressing ahead with missiles testing.
South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back held talks with his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, in Seoul, during which the two agreed to explore ways to deepen defense cooperation.
Seoul and Tokyo are both security allies of Washington, but cooperation between their militaries has been hampered by historical tensions stemming from Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula in the early 20th century.
