The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday (July 22) that the U.S. Secretary of State and Defense Secretary will visit Japan next week. During the visit, Japan and the United States will hold a Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and a 2+2 Ministerial Meeting. South Korea also expressed its intention to participate in the trilateral security meeting with the United States and Japan, continuing to enhance cooperation to collectively deter the Chinese Communist Party.
According to a statement released by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, on July 28 (Sunday) and 29 (Monday of next week), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Japan. He will hold a Foreign Ministers’ Security Meeting in Tokyo with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kawakami, aiming to advance the alliance relationship described by U.S. President Biden as a “historic upgrade.”
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Japan at the same time. He will participate in the Ministerial 2+2 Meeting involving the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee, discussing “extended deterrence.” This term is used to describe the U.S.’ commitment to using its nuclear and conventional forces to deter attacks on its allies.
According to reports from Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean Ministry of Defense stated on Monday that South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik will also join the upcoming talks in Tokyo to discuss strengthening trilateral security cooperation among the U.S., Japan, and South Korea in response to issues such as North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that during the U.S.-Japan Foreign Ministers’ and Defense Ministers’ 2+2 Meeting, the ministers will discuss the security challenges facing the allies. They will also discuss future cooperation in achieving a “free and open Indo-Pacific region,” enhancing the deterrence and response capabilities of the U.S.-Japan alliance, and building on the security and defense cooperation outcomes reached during Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s official visit to the U.S. in April.
To counter threats from China, North Korea, and Russia, during his state visit to the U.S. on April 10, Fumio Kishida and President Biden reached agreements on over seventy cooperation intentions, breaking away from the decades-old framework and elevating the level of the U.S.-Japan alliance relationship. Experts believe that Japan has truly become a strategic partner of the United States, and the upgrade of the alliance strategy between the two countries is significant for containing China and maintaining world peace.
These significant upgrades include the U.S. military for the first time adjusting the structure of its forces in Japan, promoting a new joint U.S.-Japan operational system to integrate their military forces; Japan stepping out of its post-war framework by increasing defense budget and collaborating with the U.S. in manufacturing cutting-edge weapons; and joint research and development in artificial intelligence between the U.S. and Japan.
Additionally, Biden and Kishida reviewed the command and control framework of the U.S. military and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and reached agreements on the matter.
In May, the Japanese Diet passed the Amendment to the “Act on Establishment of the Ministry of Defense,” which will establish the “Joint Operations Command” by March 2025 to command the Japanese land, sea, and air self-defense forces, enhancing defense in new security domains.
Yonhap News Agency reported that in the sidelines of the U.S.-Japan-South Korea Defense Ministers’ trilateral meeting, there will also be bilateral meetings between South Korea and the U.S., as well as between South Korea and Japan’s defense ministers.