Korea-Australia Foreign Ministers Meeting... "Actively Supporting Expansion of Defense and Defense Industry Cooperation"

Cho Tae-yeol, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Korea, who is visiting Australia to attend the Korea-Australia Foreign and Defense (2+2) Ministers' Meeting, shakes hands with Penny Wong, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs (right), on the 1st (local time). (Photo by Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

On the 1st (local time), Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol met with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Melbourne, Australia, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that they agreed to strengthen defense and defense industry cooperation between the two countries.

Minister Cho visited Melbourne, Australia, to attend the 6th Korea-Australia Foreign and Defense (2+2) Ministerial Meeting, held talks with Minister Wong, and exchanged views on joint interests including high-level exchanges, defense and defense industry cooperation, Indo-Pacific regional cooperation, economic security, and key regional situations on the Korean Peninsula.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "The two ministers evaluated that recent defense and defense industry cooperation between the two countries has developed remarkably," and added, "They agreed to actively support the expansion of defense and defense industry cooperation between the two countries at the diplomatic level so that this 2+2 ministerial meeting can serve as a turning point."

Minister Cho evaluated that Australia is an ally that decided to dispatch troops second to the Korean War and a value-sharing country that shares strategic perspectives on regional and international stages with Korea, and that the two countries have maintained close communication and cooperation as comprehensive strategic partners.

Minister Wong emphasized that cooperation among like-minded countries is key in today's challenges to the rules-based international order and responded that Australia places great importance on developing a comprehensive strategic partnership with Korea.

The two ministers evaluated that close high-level exchanges between the two countries have continued, following the 8th Korea-Australia Strategic Dialogue held in Seoul on the 16th of last month and this Korea-Australia Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting, and agreed to continue communication including at the summit level in the future.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "The two ministers reaffirmed that there are many commonalities in their response strategies amid changes in the geopolitical environment," and "especially, they agreed that the two countries are key partners in pursuing each other's Indo-Pacific strategies."

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