A high-level defense meeting in Seoul opened a new chapter in bilateral security. The talks stopped short of resolving historical disputes.
Seoul, June 28 – South Korea and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and agreed to resume joint search-and-rescue exercises, a step forward in their defense ties.
During a meeting in Seoul, South Korean Minister of Defense Ahn Gyu-back and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi agreed to work toward regional stability both bilaterally and through a partnership with Washington, in the sixth round of talks between the two countries.
Both ministers expressed a shared stance on continuing cooperation to uphold regional peace and stability in the face of a challenging security environment.
– Ministry of National Defense of South Korea
Context of regional security and future steps
With the support of the United States, South Korea and Japan have been working since 2022 to deepen defense ties and take joint steps to counter threats, including from North Korea, rising military contacts between North Korea and Russia, and the development of joint work on artificial intelligence and unmanned systems. In this context, policy is moving forward with the participation of President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
In 2019, Seoul terminated the GSOMIA agreement with Japan after Tokyo restricted exports of materials used to manufacture semiconductors and excluded South Korea from the preferential trade list. This issue remains important in the current negotiations.
In 2025, then-Prime Minister of Japan Shigeru Ishiba and President Lee Jae Myung agreed on closer security and economic ties, and the defense ministers pledged to cooperate with Washington against the nuclear threat from North Korea and Pyongyang’s growing military alignment with Russia, including joint work on artificial intelligence and unmanned systems and annual trilateral exercises.
In January 2026, Sanae Takaichi and Lee Jae Myung agreed to deepen shuttle diplomacy, and in May expanded cooperation in the energy sector.
On Sunday, Ahn and Koizumi also agreed to continue exchanges between the aviation units: South Korea’s Black Eagles and Japan’s Blue Impulse, with a view to further developing search-and-rescue training in various maritime accident scenarios.
Earlier talks were held in Japan in January, and in May the sides again converged at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, where they discussed a possible military-logistics support agreement regarding fuel, provisions and ammunition. They also agreed to conduct joint humanitarian search-and-rescue exercises in June – the first in almost a decade.
However, tensions remain, particularly over the long-standing disputes regarding the forced involvement of Korean women in Japanese military brothels during World War II. In February, Seoul protested a government event in Japan devoted to the disputed Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, both countries claiming the territories.
Overall, the meeting underscored both countries’ commitment to developing defense cooperation and deepening security engagements amid regional challenges and within the framework of cooperation with the United States.