Kim Sol Hwa, a researcher at the Institute for Japan Studies of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, stated that Tokyo seeks to establish a liaison office with NATO for the first time in Asia.

Recently, the Japanese Foreign Ministry officially informed that discussions are underway to open a NATO liaison office in Tokyo, because the current situation requires that Japan rethinks regional security, she said.

Kim warned that Japan has been seeking cooperation with the international military bloc for a long time, and the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine provided an opportunity to finally take that step.

In January, Tokyo announced its intention to establish an independent government representation at NATO in order to participate regularly in the meetings of the North Atlantic Council, and expand the scope of security cooperation with that body to include space and cyberspace.

jg/iff/mem/nvo