Yokosuka: Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back on Friday called for forward-looking relations between South Korea and Japan as he held talks with his counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, in the Japanese port city of Yokosuka. Ahn and Koizumi met at the Yokosuka base of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force to discuss regional security cooperation, and ways to deepen their bilateral defense cooperation and exchange. The port city is also home to the U.S. 7th Fleet.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Ahn expressed hope that the talks would serve as an opportunity for South Korea-Japan relations to take a major step forward, emphasizing the need to confront the past, assess the present, and move toward the future. In response, Koizumi highlighted the significance of enhancing their defense cooperation, describing the talks as opening a new door for defense collaboration between Japan and South Korea.

Koizumi noted that defense cooperation between Japan, South Korea, and the United States is becoming increasingly important, citing recent summit talks where the leaders of the two countries reaffirmed the strategic importance of their bilateral relations. He also mentioned the recent refueling of the South Korean Air Force's Black Eagles team at an air base in Okinawa as a milestone in their defense cooperation.

On Wednesday, the Black Eagles team made a layover in Okinawa en route to Saudi Arabia to refuel and hold an exchange event with Japan's aerobatic flight team. This marked the first instance of Japan's air self-defense forces providing refueling for South Korean Air Force aircraft.

Ahn and Koizumi last held bilateral talks in early November on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus in Kuala Lumpur, where they reaffirmed the importance of their trilateral security cooperation with the U.S. in the face of advancing North Korean nuclear and missile threats. Ahn's visit marks the first by Seoul's defense chief to Japan in about 1 1/2 years since former Defense Minister Shin Won-sik visited Tokyo for ministerial talks in July 2024.