Japan's defense minister said Tuesday that his trip to South Korea's border with North Korea reaffirmed that it is important for South Korea, Japan and the United States to strengthen cooperation with each other to counter threats from the communist nation.
Earlier Tuesday, Toshimi Kitazawa traveled to the border village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas as part of his two-day trip that included talks with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin on Monday.
Later in the day, Kitazawa met with Seoul's Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and said he "felt tension" during the trip to the border as he saw North Korean soldiers right in front of him.
"I reaffirmed that a country that perpetrates unfair acts is close by us," Kitazawa told Kim. "I reaffirmed the importance of strengthening South Korea-Japan relations as well as South Korea-Japan-U.S. relations."
His trip to the South came as Seoul and Tokyo explore closer military cooperation in response to Pyongyang's recent provocations, particularly the Nov. 23 bombardment of a South Korean island and the disclosure of its new uranium enrichment facility.