Korea-Australia '2+2 Meeting' ... Strengthening Defense and Defense Industry Cooperation

Cho Tae-yeol, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Shin Won-sik, Minister of National Defense, Visit Australia

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, who visited Australia to attend the 6th Korea-Australia Foreign and Defense (2+2) Ministerial Meeting, paid a courtesy call on the Australian Prime Minister on the 29th and took a commemorative photo together. From the left in the photo: Shin Won-sik, Minister of National Defense; Penny Wong, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs; Anthony Norman Albanese, Australian Prime Minister; Cho Tae-yul, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Photo by Ministry of National Defense.

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol and Defense Minister Shin Won-sik met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the 29th in Australia to discuss bilateral cooperation.

The two ministers, visiting Australia to attend the Korea-Australia Foreign and Defense "2+2 Meeting," paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Albanese in Canberra that morning and exchanged views on high-level exchanges, Indo-Pacific strategy, defense, defense industry and economic cooperation, as well as North Korea's nuclear and related issues. In particular, both sides evaluated the recent significant progress in defense and defense industry cooperation and agreed to further strengthen collaboration in these areas. The two ministers conveyed President Yoon Suk-yeol's regards and pledged to do their best to advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between Korea and Australia.

Prime Minister Albanese responded by emphasizing the importance of cooperation among like-minded regional countries such as Korea and Australia amid ongoing challenges to the rules-based international order, expressing his expectation that this 2+2 meeting would serve as an important opportunity to enhance strategic communication and cooperation between the two countries. Both sides appreciated the active summit diplomacy between the two nations and agreed to continue close high-level communication, including at the summit level. They also agreed to strengthen coordination on the Indo-Pacific strategy.

Meanwhile, Minister Cho laid a wreath at the Korean War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Canberra on the same day. A total of 17,164 Australian soldiers were deployed to the Korean War, with 340 killed and 1,216 wounded.

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