Gates Arrives in Japan for Military Talks

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2011 — Defense Sec­re­tary Robert M. Gates arrived in Tokyo today, the sec­ond leg of a three-coun­try tour that start­ed with a four-day vis­it to Chi­na.
Gates is sched­uled to meet with Japan­ese Defense Min­is­ter Toshi­mi Kitaza­wa and oth­er senior lead­ers of the Japan­ese gov­ern­ment, includ­ing Prime Min­is­ter Nao­to Kan.

“We will use the trip to dis­cuss how best to address recent secu­ri­ty devel­op­ments in the region — includ­ing North Kore­an provo­ca­tions — and to fur­ther devel­op our long-term agen­da for strength­en­ing and deep­en­ing the bilat­er­al alliance,” said Pen­ta­gon Press Sec­re­tary Geoff Mor­rell. “The vis­it will under­score the cen­tral­i­ty of the U.S.-Japan rela­tion­ship for address­ing region­al and glob­al chal­lenges, now and in the years to come.” 

Gates is sched­uled to vis­it South Korea Jan. 14 on the last leg of his trip to East Asia 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs) 

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