Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi will visit South Korea in June for talks with his counterpart, Ahn Gyu-back. This reciprocal trip follows Ahn's January visit to Japan and marks Koizumi's first to the country since assuming his post last October.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi is set to visit South Korea in June for bilateral defense talks with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back. This will be Koizumi's first trip to South Korea since he took office in October 2025.
The visit builds on recent momentum in Japan-South Korea defense relations, including Ahn's three-day trip to Japan from January 29-31, 2026, where the ministers discussed resuming military cooperation after tensions from a November 2025 refueling incident. Earlier phone talks and a November 2025 sideline meeting in Kuala Lumpur also underscored trilateral security cooperation with the U.S. against North Korean threats.
Reported by The Japan Times, the June talks aim to further advance dialogue, though exact dates remain unspecified. The engagements signal deepening ties following President Lee Jae-myung's recent meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
