S. Korea, EU agree to boost security cooperation

SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the European Union agreed Thursday to further strengthen defense and security ties during a biennial security dialogue, the defense ministry said.

During the fourth Security and Defense Dialogue held via a video link, the two sides shared their assessments of regional security situations and discussed ways to deepen defense cooperation, according to the ministry.

South Korea was represented by Kim Sang-jin, director general of international policy at the Ministry of National Defense, and the EU by Joanneke Balfoort, director for security and defense policy in the European External Action Service.

"Kim asked for the EU's cooperation and support for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of a permanent peace," the defense ministry said in a release.

In response, Balfoort "stressed the EU's strong backing for Seoul's efforts to better inter-Korean ties and vowed to spare no support for peace on the Korean Peninsula," it added.

The EU official also explained details of the EU's Indo-Pacific strategies, and voiced hope for cooperation with South Korea to implement them.

"The two sides agreed to boost cooperation to beef up maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea and the adjacent African regions against growing threats by pirates," according to the release.

The security dialogue between the two sides was launched in 2015 and has been held once in two years.

graceoh@yna.co.kr
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