Seoul Security Dialogue Held... 56 Countries Gather to Discuss Security Cooperation

Seeking International Community Joint Response to Israel War and Others

The multilateral security forum 'Seoul Defense Dialogue' (SDD), hosted by the Ministry of National Defense, will be held for three days starting from the 17th at the Grand Intercontinental Parnas Hotel in Seoul. Launched in 2012 to contribute to peace on the Korean Peninsula and the promotion of regional security cooperation, this year marks the 12th Seoul Defense Dialogue, with the theme "Cooperation and Solidarity for Freedom, Peace, and Prosperity."

Amid non-traditional security threats such as the Ukraine war, strategic competition among major countries, and climate change, as well as the rapidly changing security environment including the recent Hamas attack on Israel, the forum aims to explore joint responses by the international community.

This year, about 800 security-related officials from 56 countries and 2 international organizations will participate. Minister-level officials from five countries?Australia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Brunei, and Fiji?will attend. From Japan, Kiyoshi Serizawa, Defense Policy Bureau Director of the Ministry of Defense, will participate and hold talks with Shin Beom-chul, Vice Minister of National Defense. The Korea-Japan Vice Minister of Defense meeting is the first in about a year since last September. From the U.S. side, Paul LaCamera, Commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, Philip Goldberg, U.S. Ambassador to Korea, and Elaine Bunn, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy, will attend.

The opening ceremony will be held on the second day, the 18th. It will begin with an opening address by Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik, followed by a welcome speech from Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, congratulatory remarks by National Security Office Director Cho Tae-yong, and a keynote speech by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The plenary session following the opening ceremony will cover topics such as the North Korean nuclear threat and international responses, freedom, peace, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, changes in the global security environment, and international cooperation measures. Additionally, four special sessions will discuss current issues including maritime security, the defense industry, the military use of artificial intelligence technology, and the significance of the 70th anniversary of the armistice.

Before the opening ceremony, on the afternoon of the 17th, the Cyber Working Group Forum and the Space Security Working Group Forum will be held separately. Approximately 180 key defense cyber security officials from 30 countries including the U.S., Germany, Japan, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will attend the Cyber Working Group Forum. Heo Tae-geun, Director of Defense Policy at the Ministry of National Defense, who is hosting the forum, is expected to propose sharing situational awareness among participating countries regarding transnational cyber threats and establishing joint response measures against cyber threats.

Daniel Bolven, Swedish Ambassador to Korea and keynote speaker, will share international cyber security issues and the Swedish government's related policies, emphasizing the importance of building international cooperation systems and partnerships. The Cyber Working Group panel discussion, involving government and private experts from Korea, India, Lithuania, and NATO, will discuss the risks and opportunities of the military use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and international cooperation measures to address cyber threats arising from digital transformation.

The theme of the Space Security Working Group Forum is "Ensuring Sustainable Space Activities, Space Security, and the Development of Defense Space Cooperation." About 150 government and private experts from 37 countries including Korea, the U.S., Germany, France, and India are expected to participate. They will enhance shared awareness of changes in the security environment such as the military use of space and the resulting increase in threats, share policies and strategies of advanced space nations, and explore international cooperation measures to ensure sustainable space activities and space security.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.