Protection Minister Kim Yong-hyun held bilateral talks together with his counterparts from seven nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Group on Wednesday to debate the safety scenario on the Korean Peninsula, and methods to broaden protection and arms business cooperation, his workplace mentioned.
Kim held back-to-back conferences with the protection ministers of Cameroon, Canada, Finland, Malaysia and Mongolia, in addition to Japan’s state minister of protection, the chair of the NATO Army Committee and the minister of state for protection affairs of the United Arab Emirates, in line with the protection ministry.
The talks got here on the sidelines of the annual Seoul Protection Dialogue that kicked off its two-day run earlier within the day. Some 900 safety officers and consultants world wide joined the discussion board for discussions on regional and international safety points and challenges.
Throughout the South Korea-Japan talks, Kim and his counterpart, Makoto Oniki, concurred on the significance of bilateral safety cooperation, in addition to their trilateral safety cooperation additionally involving the US, in line with the ministry.
Additionally they agreed to intently cooperate on key safety points and search forward-looking protection exchanges as Seoul and Tokyo are set to mark their sixtieth anniversary of the institution of diplomatic ties subsequent yr.
In talks with Canadian protection chief Invoice Blair, Kim highlighted the capabilities of South Korean shipbuilders and steered establishing a mutually helpful mannequin for cooperation within the arms business sector.
Kim’s remarks got here as Canada has launched a course of to accumulate 12 submarines, a challenge that main South Korean shipbuilders are eyeing to participate in.
The protection chiefs additionally agreed to pursue alternatives for mutual cooperation, noting their complete strategic partnership introduced by their leaders in 2022.
Kim additionally met with the chair of NATO’s Army Committee, Rob Bauer, the place they concurred on the necessity for cooperation between South Korea and NATO based mostly on their shared common values of freedom, human rights and a market economic system and bolster cooperation in areas together with cyber and knowledge sharing.
Kim and his UAE counterpart, Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Mazrouei, agreed to bolster cooperation via high-level trade and joint coaching centering on the Akh unit, South Korean troops deployed within the nation.
The protection chiefs concurred on the joint improvement and manufacturing of weapons methods and strategic cooperation within the arms business, the ministry mentioned.
In his assembly with Malaysian protection minister, Haji Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Kim mentioned their bilateral cooperation has advanced with a deal to export FA-50 fighters, whereas Khaled proposed cooperation in a variety of areas, together with personnel trade and navy synthetic intelligence.
Kim and his Mongolian counterpart, Byambatsogt Sandag, mentioned ongoing cooperation in joint anti-terrorism coaching and trade and schooling of officers.
In what marked the primary protection ministerial assembly between South Korea and Cameroon for the reason that institution of diplomatic ties in 1961, Kim and his counterpart, Joseph Beti Assomo, agreed to hunt cooperation within the protection and arms sectors, together with within the state communications community enterprise of the central African nation.
Kim additionally held talks with Finnish protection chief Antti Hakkanen, the place Kim voiced help for Helsinki’s determination to hitch the North Atlantic Treaty Group final yr amid rising safety interconnectivity between Asia and Europe.
Kim additionally known as for additional boosting their protection, arms and expertise cooperation, noting how Finland first adopted South Korea’s Okay-9 self-propelled howitzers in 2017. (Yonhap)
