Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Minister Ahn Gyu-back met with Japan’s Minister of Defense during the 2025 Seoul Defense Dialogue.

Agreed to strengthen cooperation through regular consultations and personnel exchanges between defense authorities.

Sought to explore cooperation possibilities in advanced fields such as artificial intelligence and space.

Held discussions with Filipino Secretary of National Defense about defense cooperation.

On September 8, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back inspected the honor guard alongside Japan’s Minister of Defense, Nakatani Gen, who visited South Korea to attend the 2025 Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations, the defense chiefs of South Korea and Japan held in-depth discussions on security cooperation.

On September 8, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back held a ministerial meeting with Japan’s Minister of Defense, Nakatani Gen, who visited South Korea to attend the 2025 Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) convened at the Defense Ministry building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Ahead of the meeting, Minister Ahn Gyu-back hosted an honor guard ceremony to welcome the visit of Japan’s Minister of Defense, Nakatani Gen.

The Korea-Japan defense ministerial meeting took place one year and two months after the last meeting held in Tokyo in July 2024. Japan’s Defense Minister Nakatani Gen’s visit to Seoul for the Korea-Japan defense ministerial meeting in 2025 marks the first such visit in ten years, since 2015.

The ministers noted that during the Korea-Japan summit held on August 23, it was agreed that amid changing regional strategic dynamics, strategic communication between the two countries should be strengthened. They also pledged to expand communication between their defense authorities. They shared an understanding that regular consultations and personnel exchanges between defense authorities, including mutual visits by the two ministers and defense ministerial meetings, need to be further promoted. The two ministers welcomed the participation of the Korean military band in the Japan Self-Defense Forces music festival scheduled for November.

Both ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and pledged to continue trilateral collaboration between South Korea, the United States, and Japan to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. They confirmed the necessity to jointly address the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.

The two ministers concurred that amid rapid changes in the security environment, it is critical to strengthen cooperation among South Korea, Japan, and the United States. They emphasized the need to develop bilateral defense cooperation into a future-oriented partnership. Notably, they pledged to seek the possibility of future-oriented, mutually beneficial cooperation in advanced science and technology sectors such as AI, unmanned systems and space.

Defense Minister Nakatani will pay respects at the Seoul National Cemetery, visit the Korean Navy’s Second Fleet, and depart on September 9.

Minister Ahn held a bilateral meeting with Gilberto Teodoro, Secretary of National Defense of the Philippines and discussed ways of strengthening defense cooperation.

The 2025 Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD), beginning with the Korea-Japan and Korea-Philippines defense ministerial meetings, serves as a vital platform for advancing defense cooperation among participating nations ahead of the plenary session.

Vice Defense Minister Lee Doo-hee met with the vice defense ministers of Türkiye and Finland to discuss ways to foster defense and defense industry cooperation. In addition, working groups composed of specialists have convened for presentations and discussions on major outstanding issues in emerging battlefields such as cyber and space.

By Byeong-No, Yun <trylover@dema.mil.kr >

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