Koizumi began his two-day visit by paying respects at the National Cemetery in Seoul. Shortly after arriving, he expressed on X (formerly Twitter), "I will work to ensure that today and tomorrow serve as an opportunity to deepen defense cooperation between Japan and South Korea."
Following his visit to the cemetery, Koizumi toured the Black Eagles, the Air Force's aerobatic team, at the Wonju Air Base in Gangwon Province, where he encouraged the personnel alongside Minister An Gyu-baek. The Ministry of National Defense stated that this visit aims to enhance defense exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.
After receiving a briefing on the unit's status, Koizumi boarded a T-50B aircraft operated by the Black Eagles to inspect the aircraft.
In January, the Black Eagles received refueling support from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at Naha Air Base in Okinawa while en route to an international defense industry exhibition in Saudi Arabia. This marked the first instance of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force providing refueling support to South Korean military aircraft.
Japanese media reported that this incident has prompted discussions about regularizing refueling support between the two nations. However, the Ministry of National Defense clarified that there are no plans to formalize such support from the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to the Black Eagles.
An and Koizumi are scheduled to hold their defense talks on the morning of June 28 at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul. This meeting comes nearly a month after their bilateral discussions at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 30.
Following the talks, the two ministers will engage with young people from both countries at the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis (KIDA) in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, to discuss defense cooperation and the future of Japan-South Korea relations.
Koizumi's visit is seen as significant, as it is an official visit for bilateral defense talks, contrasting with the attendance of former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani at the Seoul Security Dialogue in September last year.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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