The agreement was reached Sunday at talks in Tokyo among the defense chiefs from the three countries. It formalized plans for regular military training, which in the past year has included drills to shoot down missiles and hunt for submarines. The US and its two Asian allies are also looking to enhance senior-level security talks and build on a deal to share real-time data on North Korea’s missile launches, Bloomberg reported.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the agreement laid out “unprecedented steps for our trilateral security partnership.” The US also held separate discussions with Japan that Austin said were aimed at raising their decades-old military alliance to a new level by changing command and control structures to better align Japan’s Self-Defense Force with the US military.
As a follow on to the discussion, Japan will host a meeting Monday of foreign ministers of the so-called Quad group, which includes Australia, India, and the US.
SD/
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