WASHINGTON —
U. S. Defense Secretary James Mattis will not ask Japan and South Korea to pay a bigger share of expenses associated with hosting U. S. forces when he visits the two key Asian allies this week, Japanese and U. S. government sources said Monday.
While the sources referred to such an outlook, Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said the purpose of Mattis’ visit to South Korea on Thursday and Japan on Friday and Saturday is “not to roll out any big changes in U. S. policy.”
“It will mostly be a chance for him to listen, meet the parties involved there…and make sure we’re positioned, going forward, to be able to continue the strong alliances we have,” Davis told reporters, referring to Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general who took office Jan. 20.
“He wants to find out what their concerns are,” Davis said.
U. S. President Donald Trump, who was sworn in on Jan.
