미일 국방장관 "북한 CVID에 지속 협력…미일군사훈련은 중단안해"
Following a meeting here in the nation,... Washington's defense chief travelled to Tokyo for talks with his Japanese counterpart.
The two sides agreed to continue military drills and cooperate on denuclearizing North Korea.
Park Hee-jun shares with us what was discussed. Washington and Tokyo have agreed to continue their joint military exercises.
During a meeting between U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera in Tokyo on Friday,... the two sides agreed to keep their joint military drills going, as well as the trilateral exercises with South Korea, for the stability of the region.
"We agreed to strengthen the deterrence and defense capabilities of the alliance through the steadfast implementation of Japan-U.S. joint drills."
The two sides also reaffirmed their goal of North Korea's complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization.
Mattis said the U.S. and Japan will continue to work together to achieve their goal, based on their firm alliance.
"Our objective remains the complete, irreversible and verifiable dismantling of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs."
And as for the issue of Japanese abductees in North Korea,... Mattis expressed solidarity with the Japanese government over the issue and said that humanitarian issues are always part of their deliberations.
Japan is Mattis' last stop of his Asian Tour, after China and South Korea.
The previous day he assured the South Korean government of their "ironclad" alliance,... and that the U.S. would maintain its troop levels in South Korea.
He also backed the suspension of joint military exercises,... saying that it will help diplomats negotiate with North Korea.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.
