Japan, ASEAN defense officials to meet on Tues. to discuss security+

TOKYO, March 12 Kyodo - Japan will host the first security meeting for senior defense officials from Japan and 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries next Tuesday to discuss ''nontraditional'' security issues, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.
The conference, dubbed the ''Meeting of Senior Defense Officials on Common
Security Challenges in the Asia-Pacific Region,'' will explore nonmilitary
security issues confronting the participating countries, such as natural
disasters and bird flu.
''Relations between Japan and ASEAN have long centered on the economy. So we
hope to move them up to a higher level and start to build confidence from an
area that is less likely to meet resistance,'' a senior ministry official said
in a briefing.
The one-day meeting in Tokyo, which will be chaired by Japanese Vice Defense
Minister Kohei Masuda, will be followed by bilateral meetings between Masuda
and his counterparts from Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore.
ASEAN has seven other member states: Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
==Kyodo