[News Figures] Nakata Ken, Japanese Defense Minister, to Visit Korea Next Month...

Japanese Defense Minister Nakatani Gen is reportedly coordinating plans to visit South Korea as early as next month to hold talks with Kim Yong-hyun, South Korea's Minister of National Defense, according to Kyodo News. This would mark the first visit by a Japanese defense minister to South Korea in nine years since 2015. Discussions are expected to cover topics such as the inauguration of then U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, North Korean missile launches, and North Korea-Russia military cooperation. Previously, Defense Minister Nakatani had expressed his intention to visit South Korea multiple times.

Defense Minister Nakatani Gen was born on October 14, 1957, in Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture, as the third son among five sons and one daughter. His grandfather served as a member of the House of Representatives, and his father was the chairman of a local construction and broadcasting company. He attended Tosa Junior and Senior High School before graduating from the National Defense Academy, a school that trains officers for the Japan Self-Defense Forces. He chose the Ground Self-Defense Force as his branch. After entering the Officer Candidate School and completing training, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry. He served as a rifle platoon leader in the 20th Infantry Regiment under the 6th Division and as a paratrooper instructor at the 1st Airborne Brigade. He retired in 1984 with the rank of second lieutenant. It is said that during his time in the Self-Defense Forces, he also earned the qualification of a 'Ranger'?a status that requires passing rigorous training.

Defense Minister Nakatani Gen worked as a secretary to House of Representatives members Kato Koichi, Imai Isamu, and Miyazawa Kiichi. He entered politics in the 1990 general election for the 39th House of Representatives, running as a Liberal Democratic Party candidate in his hometown's Kochi Prefecture, former Kochi 1st district, and was elected in second place. He was 32 years old at the time, making him the second youngest elected candidate after former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Akagi Norihiko.

Defense Minister Nakatani Gen also holds the title of 'youngest minister at age 44.' In 2001, during the first Koizumi Cabinet, he became the first former Self-Defense Forces officer to serve as Director-General of the Defense Agency (now Defense Minister). In 2014, he succeeded Eto Akinori as Defense Minister in the third Abe Shinzo Cabinet. As a prominent 'security expert' within the Liberal Democratic Party, he played a key role in discussions within the ruling coalition regarding collective self-defense rights. He was reappointed as Defense Minister in the Ishiba Shigeru administration.

In 2015, Defense Minister Nakatani Gen visited South Korea and held bilateral talks with then Minister of National Defense Han Min-gu. At that time, Nakatani reportedly sparked controversy by responding to Han Min-gu's statement that "North Korea is Korean territory" with the remark that "the effective control of South Korea extends only to the south of the Military Demarcation Line." Relations between the two countries further deteriorated when the Japanese government claimed in 2018 that a South Korean Navy destroyer had investigated the Self-Defense Forces' shipborne fire-control radar. Subsequently, visits by the Japanese defense minister to South Korea were suspended. After an agreement on measures to prevent recurrence was reached between the two countries in June this year, then South Korean Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik visited Japan in July.