Japan's GSDF and South Korean Marines to conduct first joint training
Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force and the South Korean Marine Corps will conduct their first joint exercise early next month, with the goal of deepening security cooperation apparently against North Korea and other nations.
The GSDF says the exercise will be part of multilateral drills for disasters and other emergencies to begin in the Philippines later this month.
The drills have been held seven times in the past, but Japan and South Korea had taken part in them separately.
The exercise will include South Korean Marines boarding GSDF boats for search and rescue training in the event of a tsunami.
The two nations' defense ministers signed a memorandum last July to systemize security cooperation such as intelligence sharing and joint exercises.
The GSDF says that by strengthening the partnership with South Korea, they hope to contribute to realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific.
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But let me not do it, because probably it is totally wrong. My parents lived between Osaka and Kobe in the 1950s. So at home, there were so many Japanese discussions, about Japan and their lovely living here. I was really raised with a lot of respect for Japan. Thank you for the leadership Japan is now taking. We really want even more of that, because we need you, Japan, with all its strength and its power and its economy and its defense industrial base now, when it comes to China. We cannot be naive about China, and we've seen what is happening there. We have to work together on this. So I really want to thank you [for] what you're doing, and whatever you can do more of. It's highly appreciated.
