Japan and the United States plan to hold a meeting of their foreign and defense ministers in New York around Sept. 11, Japanese government officials said Thursday.
The ministers are expected to sign a new accord concerning Japan's hostnation support for the U.S. military in Japan and exchange views on international affairs, including recent active diplomacy by North Korea, the officials said.
The so-called two plus two meeting will be attended by Foreign Minister Yohei Kono, Defense Agency chief Kazuo Torashima, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
It is the second meeting of its kind. At the first, in September 1998, the two sides agreed to conduct a joint study on the theater missile defense project.
According to the new host-nation support accord, Japan will reduce its payments for utility fees for U.S. bases in Japan over a five-year period beginning fiscal 2001.
The two governments estimate that Japan's payments will be reduced by 3.3 billion yen a year to 150 billion yen a year.
The two sides are also expected to agree on a planned "adjustment mechanism," for cooperation in the event of emergencies in areas surrounding Japan, the officials said.
It is expected they will agree to keep jointly studying the TMD project, despite fierce opposition from China, Russia and North Korea, they said.