S. Korea, Japan to boost defense ties this year

On the back of new momentum for thawing ties, South Korea and Japan are to expedite exchanges and cooperation in defense fields, Defense Ministry officials said Wednesday.

Such moves come after the leaders of the neighboring countries called for progress earlier this week in bilateral relations long weighed down by history issues.

"Working-level talks for policy coordination between officials of the defense ministries are planned this fall," an official said.

"The planned meeting is meant to assess security threats posed by North Korea and how to boost defense cooperation for next year," the official said, adding that it will also be the venue for the two nations to discuss follow-up measures after their defense ministers' talks last month.

On the sidelines of the Asia Security Summit in Singapore in May, Defense Minister Han Min-koo met with his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani, and agreed to deepen defense ties by actively pushing for dialogue on key pending military issues.

In October, Seoul and Tokyo also plan to hold their joint naval search and rescue exercise, another official said.

The biennial Search and Rescue Exercise has taken place since 1999, with the last session being held in December 2013, to boost cooperation in joint humanitarian missions.

"The exercise is expected to take place alongside the International Fleet Review slated in October in Yokosuka, Japan," the official said. "South Korea will take part in this year's fleet review to be hosted by Japan for the first time in 13 years."

Despite soured relations with its former colonial ruler, South Korea has taken a so-called two-track approach by separating history issues from security challenges for national interests.

Japan has denied its wrongdoings during its harsh colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45. Most of the Korean women victimized by the forced sexual enslavement for Japanese World War II soldiers have died without getting an apology from Japan, and Koreans are beyond upset of Tokyo's repeated claims to their easternmost islets of Dokdo. 

The two nations, however, recently shared the necessity to improve relations and vowed to seek ways for the goal as they marked the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties.

"The recent amiable mood is expected to allow us to work closer with Japan, facing growing nuclear and missile threats posed by North Korea," another defense ministry official said. (Yonhap)