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Japan has published a defense white paper containing its national security strategy for the first time since Kishida took office.

Although security cooperation with South Korea was important, he did not hesitate to insist that Dokdo is Japanese territory.



Correspondent Park Sang-jin, Tokyo, for more details.



<Reporter> This



is the 2022 edition of the defense white paper of the Japanese government.



It contains Japan's security strategy, the situation of neighboring countries, and comparison of military power.



In this year's defense white paper, the importance of Korea-Japan defense cooperation was newly added.



As the security environment surrounding the two countries becomes more stringent and complex, Korea-Japan cooperation is becoming increasingly important.



As the background, North Korea's successive missile launches and possible nuclear tests, terrorism, and natural disasters were mentioned.



The content for strengthening Japan's defense capabilities has also been greatly expanded, including introducing Prime Minister Kishida's remarks that he will not rule out Japan's counter-attack ability in the event of an attack from abroad and emphasizing an increase in defense costs.


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In particular, this is the first time that counterattack ability, that is, ability to attack enemy bases, has been mentioned in the defense white paper.



He expressed that South Korea continues to respond negatively to Korea-Japan defense cooperation and exchanges.



It took issue with the South Korean navy's military exercises around Dokdo and the response to GSOMIA, that is, the military information protection agreement.



The insistent claim that Dokdo is Japan's own territory and that it still exists in an unresolved state has been repeated for 18 years.



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense respectively summoned the Japanese embassy in Korea, Minister of Political Affairs Hayashi and military officers, and delivered strong protests.



In a commentary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the Japanese government's repetition of its unreasonable claims about Dokdo is not helping in building a future-oriented South Korea-Japan relationship.



(Video coverage: Han Chul-min, Moon Hyun-jin)