00:00Ambassador Glass, if I might just continue in this general direction, because I didn't
00:04get a chance to question you at all in the first round.
00:06Thank you for your willingness to continue serving and representing our nation.
00:10I think you served well as ambassador to Portugal.
00:13My thanks to Mary and the rest of your family for your willingness to step back into the
00:17fray and for sharing with folks that your faith is the underpinning of your public service.
00:23I think that's constructive when people do that.
00:25I agree with you that the U.S.-Japan relationship at the end of the last administration was
00:30in a very strong and good place, and that the progress that was made in pulling together
00:35Korea, Japan, and the United States was a significant step forward.
00:39I am concerned about the future direction of that trilateral relationship because of
00:45unfortunate recent developments in Korea.
00:48Just help me understand what you might do as ambassador to help strengthen or sustain
00:54That work, Senator Hagerty and I, in a bipartisan group, went out to both Japan and Korea last
01:01August to try and reinforce and give some lift to it, but since then there's been some
01:05dramatic intervening events in both Japan and Korea.
01:08Senator, thank you for the question, and thank you for your interest in the region.
01:15It's very important.
01:17If confirmed, I think we all have to be patient to see what happens with South Korea.
01:24That's currently in effectively a state of turmoil, and we'll have to see what comes
01:29out of that, but no doubt it's a step backwards in trying to build that relationship between
01:36not only the bilateral relationship between the Japanese and the Koreans, but with the
01:41trilateral that we have working.
01:43I think in most of these cases, and what I've seen in that, and once again, coming
01:47from the outside, we don't have as much information as maybe we will in a few weeks if confirmed,
01:54but by the way I'm looking at it, it seems to be that a lot of the issues that we're
02:01discussing are too broad, and I think that we can narrow those down between the three
02:07countries, and it would be very helpful.
02:10A lot of times when you're that broad, it's difficult to make advancements in what we're
02:16looking to do, whether it's on the security side, the economic side, but if we can narrow
02:21those down and really get to work and dig in on a very specific number of issues, I
02:27think that would be a tremendous help.
02:29Two more things if I might.
02:30I recently met with a large group of Japanese CEOs who came to just sort of increase their
02:36engagement and visibility.
02:37They are very concerned about a potential trade war inspired by tariffs that might be
02:44improvidently imposed.
02:47I'm not going to ask you to respond to this, but in my previous questioning of Ambassador
02:50Hoekstra, sometimes President Trump engages in public bluster about matters that are framed
02:57as a negotiating tactic.
02:58I think for the Japanese in particular, it's profoundly unsettling for them to not be clear
03:03about our relationship, and I tried to provide some reassurance about the deep bipartisan
03:08respect for their hosting 60,000 U.S. troops in Japan, as you referenced.
03:14The special measures agreement is coming up for renegotiation in 2027.
03:19I'm concerned that our president is often someone who likes to drive a hard bargain
03:24by framing before negotiating.
03:29How will you help the administration appreciate the significant amount of contributions the
03:36Japanese have made over decades to basing our troops, to providing us with some significant
03:42but unquantifiable benefits from being a trusted and reliable anchor, ally, and partner, both
03:48militarily as well as economically in the region?
03:53Thank you for the question.
03:56It certainly is daunting as you look at the amount of issues, and it's daunting when you
04:02look at the amount of money.
04:03I mean, when the prime minister talked about a direct investment into the United States
04:09of upwards of a trillion dollars, I mean, these are – I mean, it's difficult to comprehend
04:18those types of numbers.
04:20But we've had a consistent support by the Japanese for our military in and around $1.4
04:26billion a year, and it's been fairly consistent for a while.
04:30And undoubtedly, since the first administration to now, the sophistication of the Chinese
04:36has grown tremendously.
04:39And war has gotten – not necessarily war, but a conflict or a push back and forth has
04:46gotten significantly more expensive.
04:49And so housing the troops has done that.
04:51Whether we have weapons systems that we need to upgrade, command and control that we're
04:55going to be upgrading along with the Japanese, that's going to be a very – these are
04:59very expensive ventures.
05:01And so undoubtedly, I do believe we're going to have to go to the Japanese and talk about
05:05an increase in that support.
05:07Well, if I could, in closing, I am grateful the Japanese have actively participated in
05:13supporting Ukraine in its fight.
05:15I hope we will encourage them to continue to do that and recognize that they, from halfway
05:20around the world, have been a part of that effort.
05:23And the move towards developing a real counter-strike capability by Japan I hope will lead to co-production
05:29and purchasing and deployment of Tomahawk missiles, as well as other advanced systems.
05:34And I look forward to working with all three of you in your next postings.
05:37Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
05:38If possible, I – afterwards, in the next couple of weeks as we go through this process,
05:43we'll still be here, and I would avail myself at any point in time to come in and talk through
05:49that with you.
05:50Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
05:52As the ranking member of the East Asia Subcommittee about to go to the region with Senator Ricketts,
05:58I would very much welcome that.
06:00All three of you have been chosen to represent the United States for absolutely critical
06:05allies, and I hope that we can together sustain these trusted and longstanding relationships.
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