Japan and US to step up defense cooperation

The United States and Japan will step up their defense cooperation to deal with the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as tensions in East Asia remain high, officials from the two allies said on Thursday.

“For this threat of North Korea, at this meeting we agreed to increase the pressure and to strengthen the alliance capability,” Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said after talks with senior US officials in Washington.

US fears about North Korea's missile and nuclear bomb programs have grown in recent weeks. 

Pyongyang has said it was considering plans to fire missiles toward the US Pacific territory of Guam, although North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to have delayed the decision.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and their Japanese counterparts agreed at a meeting in Washington on Thursday to work more closely on North Korea.

“In light of the threat of North Korea, the four of us confirmed the importance of the unwavering US commitment to extended deterrence,” Onodera said.

Meaningful dialogue

Tillerson said the United States wanted dialogue with Pyongyang, but only if it were meaningful.

“Our effort is to cause them to want to engage in talks but engage in talks with an understanding that these talks will lead to a different conclusion than talks of the past," he said.

In 2005, North Korea reached an agreement with six countries to suspend its nuclear program in return for diplomatic rewards and energy assistance.

But negotiations later collapsed, with North Korea declaring the deal void after refusing inspections.

US President Donald Trump warned North Korea last week it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States, prompting North Korea to say it was considering plans to fire missiles toward Guam.

Both sides have since dialed back the rhetoric somewhat.

Japan worried

Japan intends to expand its role in its alliance with Washington "and augment its defense capabilities" while the United States "remains committed to deploying its most advanced capabilities to Japan," the State Department said in a statement.

The Japanese Defense Ministry plans to introduce a land-based Aegis missile defense system to address North Korea's missile threats and decided to seek funding in the next fiscal year to cover the system design costs, Japan's Kyodo news agency said, citing a government source.

Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Japan would strengthen its defense posture in response to the North Korean threat and provide $500 million to help boost maritime security in East Asia, where China has been pursuing extensive maritime claims.

North Korea has repeatedly threatened to target Japan, which hosts around 54,000 U.S. military personnel, as well as South Korea and the United States with its missiles.

North Korean missiles headed for the Guam area would have to fly over Japan to reach their target, worrying Tokyo that warheads or missile debris could fall on its territory.

The US and South Korea will go ahead with joint military drills next week, the top US military official said on Thursday, resisting pressure from North Korea and its ally China to halt the contentious exercises.

Drills in South Korea

The drills involving tens of thousands of US and South Korean troops are due to begin on Monday. North Korea views such exercises as preparations to invade it.

The annual exercises have taken on greater significance this year due to the rise in tensions around North Korea's rapid progress in developing nuclear weapons and missiles capable of reaching the US mainland.

China, North Korea's main ally and trading partner, has urged the United States and South Korea to scrap the drills in exchange for North Korea calling a halt to its weapons programs.

Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the exercises were "not currently on the table as part of the negotiation at any level". The drill, known as Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, takes place in South Korea. Much of it involves computer-based simulations.

Dunford said the US military and its allies needed to stay ready.

"As long as the threat in North Korea exists, we need to maintain a high state of readiness to respond to that threat," Dunford told reporters in Beijing after meeting his Chinese counterparts.

Fan Changlong, a vice chairman of China's powerful Central Military Commission, told Dunford that China believed the only effective way to resolve the issue was through talks.

"China believes that dialogue and consultations are the only effective avenue to resolve the peninsula issue, and that military means cannot become an option," China's Defence Ministry cited Fan as saying.

Response

North Korea has in the past fired missiles and taken other steps in response to US and South Korean exercises.

Easing tensions this week, North Korean media announced that Kim delayed a decision on firing four missiles towards Guam, home to a US air base and Navy facility. Trump welcomed the delay as "very wise."

The US has said it prefers global diplomatic action to stop North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs but it is ready to use force if needed.

However, chief White House strategist Steve Bannon said there was "no military solution" to North Korea's nuclear threats because of the North's massed artillery targeting the South Korean capital, apparently contradicting Trump's tough warnings to Pyongyang.

Tillerson declined to comment on Bannon's remarks, but said the current approach to North Korea had been "endorsed by the president."

"It is reviewed with him periodically in terms of the status of how the approach is working, and it is first and foremost, as you have seen, to undertake a very concerted, deliberate campaign of exerting pressure on the regime in North Korea," Tillerson said.