中谷防衛相、年内訪韓　９年ぶり、韓国国防相と合意

　中谷元防衛相は２１日、韓国の金龍顕国防相とラオスの首都ビエンチャンで会談した。韓国国防省の発表によると、両氏は中谷氏の年内訪韓で合意した。今後、具体的な日程を調整するが、１２月下旬が有力視されている。防衛相の訪韓は２０１５年１０月以来で９年ぶり。
　日本防衛省は「訪韓の早期実現に向けて、調整を加速化していく」と強調した。
　両省によると、両氏はウクライナ侵攻を続けるロシアへの北朝鮮の派兵といったロ朝の軍事協力を強く非難。北朝鮮が核・ミサイル能力を高度化する厳しい安全保障環境の下、日韓と日米韓３カ国の緊密な連携は不可欠だとの認識を共有し、「安保協力を持続的に発展させていく」と確認した。（2024/11/21-23:24）

South Korea's defense ministry said Thursday Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani will visit the country by the end of this year.
   Nakatani agreed on his first visit to South Korea as Japan's defense chief since October 2015 at a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-hyun, in the Lao capital of Vientiane the same day, according to the ministry.
   Itineraries will be fixed later. But the visit is highly likely to be scheduled for late next month, people familiar with the matter said.
   Any Japanese defense minister has not made a trip to the neighboring country for the nine years since Nakatani's previous visit.
   Japan-South Korea defense ties soured after a fire-control radar rock-on incident involving a South Korean warship and a Japanese Self-Defense Force aircraft in 2018.   But the defense ministries of the two countries have reactivated interchanges since their chiefs agreed on measures to prevent such a dangerous event from happening again in June this year.