Japan, U.S. ministers to hold ‘two-plus-two’ talks on Friday

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s foreign and defence ministers will hold talks with their U.S. counterparts in a “two-plus-two” format on Friday to discuss security issues, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

The announcement of the discussions by the two key allies came just hours after North Korea conducted an apparent ballistic missile launch.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi will hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin via video link on Friday, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Discussions will centre around the overall security situation faced by the two allies as well as those concerning “a free and open Indo-Pacific,” it added.