TOKYO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks Friday with the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff on Japan-U.S. alliance and regional tensions.
Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford told Abe at the meeting that the bilateral alliance between the two countries remained solid.
"The nature of our bilateral relationship, particularly at the military level, is rock solid," Dunford was quoted as saying.
Abe, for his part, told Dunford that he hopes to work together to further fortify the Japan-U.S. alliance amid concerns about rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
In a meeting earlier in the day, Dunford and Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano, top officer of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' (SDF), expressed the importance of the Japanese SDF and the U.S. military working together to address situation on the Korean Peninsula.
"The U.S. commitment to the defense of Japan including extended deterrence remains ironclad," said a statement released after their meeting at the Defense Ministry.
