WASHINGTON, May 25 (Reuters) - U.S. and Japanese defense chiefs discussed concerns about future actions by North Korea on Tuesday, a Japanese defense official said, as tensions ramp up following the sinking of South Korean warship.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates held a 40-minute-meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa at the Pentagon, where the two exchanged views on "future North Korean possible activity," the official said.
The talks also broached Chinese naval activities and controversial plans to relocate a U.S. airbase in Japan.
The Japanese official declined to be named and did not enter into specifics on the conversation on North Korea.
The Pentagon said Gates thanked Kitazawa for Japan’s strong response to the March sinking of the South Korean warship, which killed 46 sailors. Seoul believes a North Korean submarine infiltrated its waters to launch a torpedo attack.
North Korea denies those accusations and announced on Tuesday it was cutting all ties with the South. Its increasingly war-like rhetoric has hit Seoul’s financial markets, although analysts say the possibility of a major conflict between the two Koreas is remote.
The Pentagon said U.S., Japanese and South Korean defense chiefs would hold trilateral talks in June in Singapore on the sidelines of a security conference.
OKINAWA BASE
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has said tension on the Korean peninsula underlined the importance of tight U.S.-Japan ties and was key to his decision to keep a controversial U.S. airbase on Okinawa island.
Hatoyama had originally pledged to try to move the Marines’ base off Okinawa.
The Pentagon acknowledged Gates and Kitazawa "discussed the way forward" for the airbase relocation.
The Japanese official suggested an announcement of an agreement on the airbase could come this week, but said no date had been officially set.
"Secretary Gates was pleased with … the developments so far, (on) both sides, because we are now proceeding toward some kind of agreement," the official said, without offering specifics.
Gates and Kitazawa also discussed recent Chinese military incidents, which saw Japan lodge a formal protest with Beijing. Twice last month, Chinese helicopters at sea flew close to Japanese destroyers.
A group of Chinese warships were also spotted in April in the high seas near Okinawa, prompting an investigation by Japanese authorities. China says the ships were on a training exercise and that no international law was violated.
The Japanese official described recent Chinese naval activity as "potentially dangerous."
The Pentagon said Japan and the United States "agreed to continue to cooperate and to monitor Chinese actions in the region."
The U.S. military has repeatedly called for greater transparency and communication with China’s armed forces in order to avoid a potentially dangerous misunderstanding.
But China has postponed several high-level exchanges between U.S. and Chinese military leaders since Washington angered Beijing by announcing a $6.4 billion arms package for Taiwan in January.
