US extends security commitment to Japan to include space

By Kasim Ileri and Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US and Japan agreed to adjust America’s military presence on the island of Okinawa and extend security cooperation to space as their defense and foreign ministers convened Wednesday for security talks in Washington.

The two countries agreed that “attacks to, from or within space could lead to the invocation of Article V of the US-Japan Security Treaty,” according to a US official who spoke to Anadolu on condition of anonymity.

“The United States and Japan decided to optimize Alliance force posture based on improved operational concepts and enhanced capabilities across multiple domains to address rapidly changing security challenges in the region,” said the official.

The US has 50,000 troops stationed in Japan under a security pact. Article 5 of the pact stipulates that “Washington will defend territories under Tokyo's administration from armed attack.”

Around 70% of the land used exclusively for US military installations in Japan is in Okinawa province.

The official said the two countries will announce a “significant upgrade to U.S. posture in Japan, including the stationing of a Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR) by 2025.”

The US and Japan also highlighted the temporary deployment of US MQ-9 Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles to Kanoya Air Base “to increase maritime domain awareness in the East China” Sea and the “launch of a Bilateral Information Analysis Cell to increase information-sharing.”

The meeting came one month after Japan adopted an updated version of its national security strategy, its first in a decade, that allows Japanese armed forces to acquire what it called “counter strike capability” in what is a major departure from its post-World War II pacifist posture.

The strategy also views China as the "greatest strategic challenge," calls North Korea a “graver, more imminent threat than before” and Russia a “serious security concern.”