Text Fwd: Seoul, Tokyo to hold vice defense ministers' talks 서울과 도쿄, [12월 10일 금요일 ]국방 차관 대화 예정

Korea Times
12-09-2010 18:12
Seoul, Tokyo to hold vice defense ministers' talks
By Jung Sung-ki

The vice defense ministers from South Korea and Japan will hold talks in Tokyo Friday over defense cooperation between the two nations and joint efforts to deter North Korea’s provocations, Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense said.

Vice Defense Minister Lee Yong-geol arrived in the Japanese capital Thursday for the meeting with his Japanese counterpart Kimito Nakae will continue their talks through Friday, the ministry said in a press release.

“During the talks, both vice defense ministers will share the views on security conditions on the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea’s nuclear problem and deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, as well as ways of boosting bilateral defense cooperation,” it said.

On Nov. 23, the North fire about 170 shells onto the island in waters off the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto sea border between the two Koreas, killing two marines and two civilians. The artillery attack came just eight months after the North allegedly torpedoed a South Korean warship near the NLL, the flash point for inter-Korean conflicts, claiming the lives of 46 sailors.

The visit by the South Korean vice defense minister to Japan is the first of its kind in 15 years, said the release.
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