Tokyo, Oct. 28 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi met with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Cebu, the Philippines, on Wednesday and presented Japan’s plans to boost its “denial defense capabilities.” According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, Koizumi expressed his intention to “strengthen denial defense capabilities that would deter unilateral changes to the status quo by force or coercion, and should invasion of Japan occur, prevent and repel the aggression, thereby denying an adversary the ability to achieve its objectives.” During the meeting, the Japanese and U.S. defense chiefs agreed to set up a final assembly and inspection facility for advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles in Japan. The two sides confirmed that their countries will “move forward with more advanced and realistic bilateral training efforts, including further live-fire exercises.” They also affirmed that Japan and the United States will strengthen cooperation in response to a recent string of cyberattacks that breached personal information in and outside Japan. Regarding a murder-robbery case involving a U.S. Marine in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, Koizumi and Hegseth agreed to continue discussions to take effective measures to prevent similar incidents. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
