EXCLUSIVE: Japan Defense Minister May Visit Europe in Sept.

August 12, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera is considering visiting the Netherlands and Italy in early September, a senior Defense Ministry official told Jiji Press on Saturday.

Onodera hopes to hold talks with his counterparts of the two countries to seek their support for the efforts to realize North Korea's abandonment of nuclear weapons and missiles, according to the official.

He is also expected to discuss how Japan should cooperate with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the field of national security. The Netherlands and Italy are both NATO members.

In the Netherlands, Onodera is considering visiting the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague.

The OPCW conducts verification activities based on the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Japanese Defense Ministry dispatched Self-Defense Force members to the organization in the past to join its inspections.

Onodera has shown his ministry's readiness to resume the dispatch of SDF troops to the OPCW, which has been suspended since 2016, in case North Korea takes concrete measures toward its denuclearization.

With the Italian defense minister, Onodera hopes to exchange opinions about the proposed joint development of defense equipment. In May 2017, Japan and Italy signed a pact that would enable them to jointly develop defense equipment. Jiji Press