Jun 25 02:07 AM US/Eastern
WASHINGTON, June 25 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The top uniformed officers of Japan and the United States, Gen. Ryoichi Oriki and Adm. Michael Mullen, agreed Thursday to maintain a firm Japan-U.S. alliance and discussed the tense East Asian situation following the March sinking of a South Korean warship which Seoul blames on North Korea, Japanese officials said.
The meeting was the second between Oriki, chief of staff of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' Joint Staff, and Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Their first meeting was held in Tokyo last October.
Mullen, issuing a statement after the meeting at the Pentagon, said the Japan-U.S. alliance is essential to maintain the safety and prosperity of the two countries and also to ensure peace and stability in the region.
Prior to the meeting, Oriki and Mullen planted an elm tree at the inner garden of the Pentagon outside Washington to mark the 50th anniversary this year of the signing of the 1960 Japan-U.S. security treaty.
Oriki also paid a visit to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and offered a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, often called the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
He is scheduled to head for quake-devastated Haiti on Friday to inspect activities of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force personnel who are engaged in reconstruction work there as part of the United Nations' peacekeeping operations.
Oriki is currently on a six-day trip to the United States and Haiti. After serving as GSDF chief of staff, Oriki became the chief of staff of the Joint Staff in March last year.
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