Japanese and U.S. military leaders vowed to strengthen their relations and bolster their joint defenses against any missile attack as the U.S. Forces in Japan marked its 50th anniversary on Monday. Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma, noting continued threats from North Korea and the growth and modernization of China's military, called the U.S. military presence in Japan an «indispensable foundation» of peace in the region. «The presence of the U.S. Forces in Japan ... is of extreme importance,» he said to a gathering of about 250 people at Yokota Air Base on the outskirts of Tokyo. About 50,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan under a mutual security treaty. Following Japan's World War II defeat in 1945 and the end of the U.S.-led occupation in 1952, the U.S. Forces, Japan, was established on July 1, 1957. Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, commander of the U.S. troops, said the postwar U.S.-Japan alliance is «exemplary for the world.» He said the two nations, working under «common values,» demonstrated the closeness of the alliance in July last year, when North Korea test-fired several missiles into the Sea of Japan. «We were able to effectively share information and coordinate through the process,» he said. Wright noted that earlier Monday an agreement was signed to relocate the Japanese Air Defense Command to Yokota to bolster future ballistic missile defenses, or BMD. «The move will ensure close coordination between our respective BMD command and control systems and will be critical to effective missile defense operations,» he said.
