Defense Secretary Hagel welcomes counterpart Onodera to Pentagon

       
Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera met his US counterpart, Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon on Monday, where they re-affirmed their close coordination on military defense issues amid regional threats posed by North Korea.        

During talks, Hagel and Onodera agreed that the US would deploy a second squadron of the MV-22 Osprey to Okinawa despite controversy over the aircraft.       

Okinawans were concerned about two Osprey crashes last year, in Florida and Morocco, particularly because the Okinawa base is in a residential area.       

The Japanese government approved the deployment of 12 more Ospreys last autumn after receiving additional security assurances from the Pentagon.       

On the issue of North Korea, Hagel called Pyongyang's recent provocative actions "the most obvious threat to stability in the region."             

"Continued close coordination between US and Japanese forces will be essential for monitoring and responding to any further provocations, particularly cooperation on missile defense," Hagel told a joint news conference.        

Hagel reiterated his warning to North Korea that the US and its allies stand "prepared for any contingency."       

Asked whether the tensions with North Korea have eased up of late, Onodera said he has not seen "any information that would allow us to decrease our level of the patrol against North Korea, patrol and surveillance against North Korea."       

Regarding the territorial dispute between Japan and China over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, Hagel said, "Any actions that could raise tensions or lead to miscalculations affect the stability of the entire region."         

"The United States opposes any unilateral or coercive action that seeks to undermine Japan's administrative control, a message General Dempsey conveyed to his counterparts last week in Beijing," he added.           

That was the message General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, conveyed during a trip to Asia last week, Hagel said.


AP