The US and Japanese Self-Defense Forces during Kin Sword training last October [미 태평양함대 페이스북 계정=연합뉴스]
– The Japanese government’s contribution to the US forces in Japan for fiscal year 2021 (2021.4~2022.3) was decided to be 20.1 billion yen (about 2.1 trillion won), up 1.2% from the previous year.
According to Kyodo News, Japanese Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo announced on the 17th that the US and Japan have agreed to extend the special agreement on defense costs by one year at this level.
The Japanese government’s contribution to the US Army in Japan as of fiscal year 2020 was 193 billion yen (about 2.83 trillion won).
The special agreement on defense spending between the US and Japan is renewed every five years, and the initial deadline was in March. As a result, the US and Japan began to negotiate a working-level ante from November last year. However, as the resignation of former US President Donald Trump, who had been demanding a large increase in Japanese contributions, became clear, the Japanese side delayed the agreement after the US regime change.
On the 27th of last month, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi proposed to US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln a plan to extend the defense expenditure agreement by one year, and the US accepted it.
With this agreement, Japan and the United States will reconvene discussions on new contributions that will be applied over the next five years from 2022.
Foreign Minister Motegi said on the day, “We reached an agreement early after the inauguration of Biden’s regime, and we were able to inform the international community of the unity of the Japan-US (US-Japan) alliance.”
Reporter Seok Kyung-min [email protected]
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