WASHINGTON -- The rapidly evolving security environment, including the persistent North Korean threat and maritime issues in the East and South China Seas, highlighted a meeting at the Pentagon today between Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work and Tetsuro Kuroe, Japan’s administrative vice defense minister, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Gordon Trowbridge said.

“Deputy Secretary Work affirmed that the Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan and fall under Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty,” Trowbridge said in a statement summarizing the meeting.

The islands have been the subject of a long-standing territorial dispute.

Work and Kuroe exchanged views on defense equipment and technology cooperation, and discussed enhancing trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Australia, the deputy press secretary said. “They also discussed the expanding roles of the Japan Self-Defense Force, as well as bilateral initiatives to include building partner capacity in Southeast Asia, enhancing ballistic missile defense cooperation, and advancing space cooperation,” he added.

The two leaders committed to further efforts to transform the alliance by implementing the guidelines for U.S.-Japan defense cooperation, Trowbridge said, and reaffirmed that the U.S.-Japan alliance remains unwavering and continues to serve as the cornerstone of peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region.