Koizumi to visit Black Eagles unit with Defense Minister Ahn, meet for talks Sunday

"An opportunity to deepen defense cooperation between Japan and South Korea"

Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro pays his respects and lays a wreath at the National Memorial Tower at Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on Saturday. [Yonhap]
Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro pays his respects and lays a wreath at the National Memorial Tower at Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on Saturday. [Yonhap]

Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro arrived in South Korea on Saturday for bilateral defense talks and other engagements, beginning his schedule with a visit to Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu.

After arriving, Koizumi posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying he would "work to make today and Sunday an opportunity to deepen defense cooperation between Japan and South Korea."

That afternoon, Koizumi visited the Black Eagles — the Air Force's aerobatic demonstration team — at their base in Wonju, Gangwon Province, alongside South Korea's Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-baek.

The Black Eagles received aerial refueling support from Japan's Air Self-Defense Force at Naha Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture in January, while transiting to the International Defense Exhibition 2026 held in Saudi Arabia. It was the first time Japan's Air Self-Defense Force had provided refueling support to a South Korean Air Force aircraft.

The joint visit to the Black Eagles base takes on added significance as Japanese media have reported that the two countries are considering making such refueling support a regular arrangement, following that January assistance.

The two defense ministers are scheduled to hold talks Sunday morning at the Ministry of National Defense building in Seoul. It will be their first bilateral meeting since the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 30 — roughly a month ago. It is the first time a Japanese defense minister has visited South Korea for bilateral talks since 2015, an 11-year gap.

Koizumi is the second son of former Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro and has won election to the House of Representatives seven times as a Liberal Democratic Party member. He served as environment minister in Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's cabinet in 2019 and was appointed agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister in the Ishiba cabinet last year.

He was named defense minister when the Takaichi cabinet took office last October. Despite being in his 40s, Koizumi is widely mentioned as a potential future prime minister.


igiza77@heraldcorp.com