South Korea and Japan held joint talks between their senior defense officials in Tokyo on Wednesday, the defense ministry said, amid efforts to improve bilateral ties and deter threats from North Korea.
It marked the first time the director general-level meeting was held since August 2015. The meeting had usually been held on an annual basis since it was launched in 1994.
Lee Seung-beom, director general for international policy at the defense ministry, and his Japanese counterpart, Atsushi Ando, discussed regional security circumstances, as well as defense exchange and cooperation in the latest meeting, the ministry said in a release.
A ministry official said the meeting focused on exploring possible areas of cooperation with the resumption of the talks, rather than discussing pending issues.
The latest meeting came a month after the defense chiefs of South Korea and Japan agreed to take measures to prevent the recurrence of a 2018 maritime spat over a Japanese patrol aircraft, which had remained a source of friction for years.
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240710009900315?section=national/defense