Japan, U.S. Defense Chiefs May Meet during Trump Visit

Tokyo, Oct. 26 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s new Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Sunday that he may meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during U.S. President Donald Trump’s three-day visit to Japan from Monday. “I will tell (Hegseth) that Japan will strengthen its defense capabilities based on its own independent judgments and fully work for regional peace and security,” Koizumi said in a television program. Hegseth is set to accompany Trump on the U.S. leader’s trip to Japan. Koizumi, who took office Tuesday, reiterated that Tokyo will consider scrapping the current rule that limits Japan’s exports of defense equipment to five categories, including rescue and transportation. “Making all-out efforts to utilize defense equipment exports as an important tool to help restore world order is completely consistent with the path that Japan, a peace-loving nation, has followed since the end of World War II,” he said. When North Korea launched short-range ballistic missiles Wednesday, new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi instructed her government staff to collect and analyze related information. Koizumi said that the prime minister’s action was “unprecedented” in that the instruction was issued for missiles that did not head toward Japan. “The entire administration will work to raise the level of crisis management,” Koizumi said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]