On September 9, 2025, from 11:00 for approximately 30 minutes, Defense Minister Nakatani, visiting the Republic of Korea to attend the 14th Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD,) held a meeting with Philippine Secretary of National Defense, Gilberto Teodoro. The summary of the meeting is as follows:

At the outset of the meeting, Minister Nakatani stated his delight at being able to have a meeting with Secretary Teodoro in little time since the Shangri La Dialogue in June, and also stated that Japan would like to continue cooperating with like-minded countries including the Philippines, under the spirit of “OCEAN” that Minister Nakatani presented at the Shangri La Dialogue.

In response, Secretary Teodoro welcomed the recent remarkable progress of cooperation between the defense authorities of Japan and the Philippines.

The two Ministers, taking into account the planned coming into effect of Japan-Philippines RAA, concurred to promote discussions toward further strengthening operational collaboration.

The two Ministers welcomed the recent close communication on multiple levels, including the ones under the “Strategic Dialogue” framework, and also affirmed the importance of multilateral cooperation including Japan and the Philippines, in addition to the bilateral efforts.

Furthermore, the two Ministers concurred to promote defense equipment and technology cooperation.

The two Ministers affirmed their commitment to continue close communication between the defense authorities and to further strengthen defense cooperation and exchanges between Japan and the Philippines. Japan Ministry of Defense