Senior defense officials of Korea and Japan reaffirmed Tuesday that their trilateral cooperation with the United States is vital to ensuring peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond, also pledging continued efforts to expand defense exchanges. Vice Defense Minister Lee Doo-hee shared the view with his Japanese counterpart, Atsushi Ando, during their talks on the margins of the Seoul Defense Dialogue, Seoul's defense ministry said in a release. "Both sides agreed that bilateral and trilateral cooperation between Korea, Japan and the U.S. is crucial for maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and across the region," the ministry said. "The two sides agreed to maintain communication and ongoing efforts to foster stable, mutually beneficial and forward-looking defense exchanges based on mutual understanding and trust," it added. Ando was attending the forum in place of Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who skipped the event after his visit to a controversial wartime shrine in Tokyo, seen as a symbol of Japan's imperialistic past, drew criticism from S