New Japanese Defense Minister to Visit US Soon... First Meeting with US Secretary of Defense on July 4

Minoru Kihara, Japan's new Defense Minister, is scheduled to hold talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Washington DC on the 4th of next month.

According to local media on the 29th, Defense Minister Kihara held a press conference and announced that he will visit Washington DC from the 3rd to the 6th of next month. He stated, "I want to build an unwavering relationship of trust with Secretary Austin while simultaneously demonstrating the strong cooperation between the U.S. and Japan both domestically and internationally."

Defense Minister Kihara is expected to discuss ways to strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the U.S.-Japan alliance during his first overseas visit to the United States since taking office.

Local media reported that the defense ministers' talks may also cover issues related to cooperation between the Self-Defense Forces and U.S. military regarding the establishment of an integrated command to unify the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces, as well as Japan's efforts to ease export controls on defense equipment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.