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.
South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back held talks with Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi in Seoul, who is on a two-day visit, during which the two agreed to explore ways to deepen defense cooperation.
The two “reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of lasting peace, and agreed to continue bilateral cooperation… as well as trilateral cooperation among South Korea, Japan and the United States”, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said in a statement released after the bilateral meeting.
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.
Pyongyang has repeatedly declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear state since a 2019 summit between Kim and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed over the scope of denuclearization and sanctions relief.
North Korea remains technically at war with the South because the Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. (AFP)
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