The Defense Ministry will next month establish a new office aimed at tackling the challenge of how best to defend Japan’s vulnerable Pacific flank, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has announced.
“Next month, we will establish a new Pacific Defense Planning Office to conduct a comprehensive review of the necessary Self-Defense Forces structure for Pacific defense and to promote related initiatives in a unified and proactive manner,” Koizumi said Saturday.
Visiting the remote island of Iwoto, formerly Iwo Jima, for a joint U.S.-Japan memorial ceremony some 1,200 kilometers south of Tokyo in the Pacific, Koizumi noted…