US and Japanese defense chiefs on Tuesday vowed "unified support" for South Korea in an escalating dispute with North Korea over the sinking one of Seoul's warships, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa "pledged unified support for the Republic of Korea" in talks in the US capital, and planned to meet with their South Korean counterpart at a conference in Singapore in June, press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
"Secretary Gates thanked Minister Kitazawa for the Japanese government's strong response to North Korea's latest provocative actions," Morrell said in a statement after the meeting.
Amid mounting tensions in the region, North Korea said Tuesday it was cutting all ties to Seoul in protest over charges it torpedoed a South Korean warship.
The North said South Korea's claims that it had sunk the warship were tantamount to a declaration of war.
A multinational investigation team has said there was overwhelming evidence that a North Korean submarine sunk the South Korean corvette on March 26 with the loss of 46 lives.
Gates and Kitazawa also discussed controversial plans to relocate a US air base within Okinawa island.
Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has come under severe criticism at home after backtracking on a pledge to move the base off the island.
AFP
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa "pledged unified support for the Republic of Korea" in talks in the US capital, and planned to meet with their South Korean counterpart at a conference in Singapore in June, press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
"Secretary Gates thanked Minister Kitazawa for the Japanese government's strong response to North Korea's latest provocative actions," Morrell said in a statement after the meeting.
Amid mounting tensions in the region, North Korea said Tuesday it was cutting all ties to Seoul in protest over charges it torpedoed a South Korean warship.
The North said South Korea's claims that it had sunk the warship were tantamount to a declaration of war.
A multinational investigation team has said there was overwhelming evidence that a North Korean submarine sunk the South Korean corvette on March 26 with the loss of 46 lives.
Gates and Kitazawa also discussed controversial plans to relocate a US air base within Okinawa island.
Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has come under severe criticism at home after backtracking on a pledge to move the base off the island.
AFP
