US, Japan to step up military ties amid Korean Peninsula tensions

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford pledged on Friday to step up the bilateral coordination in light of the heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Abe and Dunford agreed, during a meeting at the prime minister's official residence, to take specific actions toward improving bilateral defense capacity in order to deal with the threat posed by the nuclear and missile programs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

General Joseph Dunford (L), chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, meets with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Abe's official residence in Tokyo on August 18, 2017. /AFP Photo‍

Fears about DPRK's missile and nuclear weapons program have grown in recent weeks, especially after Pyongyang threatened with a plan to fire missiles toward the US Pacific territory of Guam, although DPRK leader Kim Jong Un appears to have delayed making the decision.

The top US general told Abe that "the nature of our bilateral relationship, particularly at the military level, is rock-solid."

Abe expressed great appreciation for President Donald Trump's pledge that the US will take all possible measures to protect allies, adding that he hoped to further strengthen the alliance.

General Joseph Dunford (L), chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, meets with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Abe's official residence in Tokyo on August 18, 2017. /AFP Photo

Before meeting with Abe, Dunford met with Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces Joint Staff, and said "an attack on one is an attack on both of us."

"This is a very important time for security in the region and of course we are mostly focused on the threat coming out of North Korea," Dunford said. "I think we have made it clear to North Korea and anyone else in the region that an attack on one is an attack on both of us."

The US general also said to his Japanese counterpart that "the US commitment to the defense of Japan including extended deterrence remains ironclad."

In Washington, DC on Thursday, the US and Japan's foreign and defense chiefs in the "two-plus-two" talks reaffirmed their commitment to the bilateral alliance and said they would continue to compel the DPRK to halt its nuclear and missile programs.

New US Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty (L) and General Joseph Dunford (R), the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, before meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on August 18, 2017. /AFP Photo

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US wanted dialogue with the DPRK. "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."

Abe on Friday also met William Hagerty, the new US ambassador to Japan, saying he hoped to work in close partnership with the envoy to strengthen the alliance between Japan and the US.

Before arriving in Japan, Dunford also visited South Korea and China. He met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in Seoul and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

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