Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi to skip Seoul Security Dialogue after Yasukuni visit

Japan’s defense minister will not attend Seoul’s annual multilateral security meeting next week, a downgrade in representation that has prompted concern over the direction of Japan-South Korea defense exchanges.

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi is expected to skip the Seoul Security Dialogue, scheduled for September 7 to 9. Japan will reportedly send Atsushi Ando, a senior Defense Ministry official at vice-minister level, instead, according to reports cited by the Asahi Shimbun and others.

The change comes one year after then-Defense Minister Gen Nakatani attended the meeting. His visit marked the first participation by a Japanese defense minister in the Seoul Security Dialogue and the first visit to South Korea by a Japanese defense minister in about a decade, according to Asahi. Before Nakatani’s attendance, Japan had generally sent a senior ministry official.

Japan and South Korea have recently expanded defense exchanges, and Koizumi visited South Korea in late June. But on August 15, South Korea’s Liberation Day and the anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II, Koizumi visited Yasukuni Shrine while serving as defense minister. The shrine honors Japan’s war dead, including Class A war criminals from World War II.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry summoned the Japanese Embassy’s defense attaché to protest the visit. The decision for Koizumi not to return to South Korea for the security dialogue has since fueled concern among Japan-South Korea relations watchers that high-level defense contacts could weaken. The concerns come as military activity by North Korea, China and Russia has added to security unease in Northeast Asia.