Japan, S. Korea Vice Defense Ministers to Meet in Mid-Nov.

Seoul, Oct. 31 (Jiji Press)--The vice defense chiefs of South Korea and Japan will hold talks in Seoul in mid-November, the first such meeting in two years, a spokesman at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense said at a press conference Thursday. The meeting between South Korean Vice Minister of National Defense Baek Seung Joo and Japanese Vice Defense Minister Masanori Nishi will take place on the sidelines of this year's Seoul Defense Dialogue, a security forum among subcabinet-level officials from Asia-Pacific nations, in the South Korean capital on Nov. 11-13. Baek and Nishi are expected to exchange views on North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs and discuss efforts to arrange a meeting between the two countries' defense ministers. No bilateral meeting of defense chiefs have been held since June 2011 as relations between Japan and South Korea have soured due to territorial and history issues. Nishi is expected to call for an early conclusion of a proposed pact aimed at protecting and sharing the two nations' military information. But the South Korean spokesman said that Seoul is not planning to sign the pact at the moment, noting that no progress has been made in talks with Japan on the matter. A study is also under way to set up a meeting among subcabinet-level foreign affairs officials of the two countries plus China in Seoul in November. Close attention will likely be paid to whether these meetings will help Japan and South Korea boost efforts to mend their relations, analysts said. END