South Korea, Japan reaffirm denuclearisation goal, closer defence ties

Ahn Gyu-back, Koizumi agree to revive joint search-and-rescue drills in sixth round of bilateral talks

South Korea and Japan on Sunday reaffirmed their commitment to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and agreed to revive joint search-and-rescue drills in a step forward for security ties between the neighbouring countries.

Meeting in Seoul, South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi agreed to work on regional stability bilaterally, as well as through their partnerships with Washington, in the sixth round of talks between the two countries.

"Both ministers shared the view to continue cooperation for maintaining regional peace and stability amid a grave security environment," South Korea's defence ministry said in a statement.

#국민께알려드립니다

오늘(6월 28일(일)), 안규백 국방부장관과 고이즈미 신지로 일본 방위대신은 서울에서 한일 국방장관 회담을 개최하였습니다.

양 장관은 지난 1월 안규백 국방부장관의 방일, 5월의 싱가포르 회동에 이어 고이즈미 신지로 일본 방위대신의 방한이 성사되고 여섯 번째 회담을… pic.twitter.com/jQsEizqqOB

— 정빛나 국방부 대변인 (@MNDSpokesperson) June 28, 2026

South Korea and Japan, with US encouragement, have been working to develop closer ties since 2022 and overcome sometimes bitter historical differences, a policy continued by President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

In 2019, Seoul moved to end the GSOMIA intelligence-sharing pact with Japan after Tokyo restricted exports of semiconductor materials and removed South Korea from its preferential trade list, over lingering grievances rooted in Japan’s past colonial rule of the Korean peninsula.

Read: China is rebuilding its grip on North Korea. Is Kim Jong Un ready to oblige?

In 2025, Japan's then-Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and President Lee agreed to closer security and economic ties, and the defence ministers committed to working with Washington against North Korea's nuclear threat and Pyongyang's growing military ties with Russia, including cooperation on AI and unmanned systems and annual trilateral drills.

Takaichi and Lee agreed in January 2026 to deepen shuttle diplomacy and in May expanded cooperation on energy.

On Sunday, Ahn and Koizumi also agreed to continue fostering exchange between their air forces' respective aerobatic teams — South Korea’s Black Eagles and Japan’s Blue Impulse — to further advance search-and-rescue exercises designed for various maritime accident scenarios.

Read More: North Korea fires 10 ballistic missiles during US-South Korea military drills

The two previously held talks in Japan in January and met again in May at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore where they discussed a possible military-logistics support agreement covering fuel, food and ammunition. The two sides also agreed to hold a joint humanitarian search-and-rescue exercise in June, the first in almost a decade.

Tensions, however, remain, including lingering disputes over Korean women forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War Two. In February, Seoul protested against a Japanese government event commemorating a cluster of disputed islands known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, which controls the territory.