Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Vice minister Shin Beom-chul holds minilateral talks with representatives from AP4 Two sides discuss cooperation with ASEAN to maintain security order

The Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan, Australia, and New Zealand agreed to strengthen solidarity in order to build a ‘rules-based order.’

On September 7, the Ministry of National Defense announced in a statement that Vice Minister Shin Beom-chul had held minilateral talks with representatives from four Asia-Pacific partner countries (AP4) visiting the Republic of Korea to participate in the Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) 2022. “This meeting is a follow-up consultation that stemmed from the summit among four nations, the ROK, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, which was held last June on the sidelines of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit. The purpose of the meeting is to maintain the strengthening of solidarity among our four countries in protecting values and norms,” a ministry spokesperson explained.

The meeting was attended by Vice Minister Shin, Japanese Vice Minister of Defense for International Affairs Masami Oka, Australian Acting Director of Defense for International Policy Tom Menadue, and New Zealand's Ambassador to the ROK Philip Turner. Representatives from each country discussed the security situation in Ukraine, and in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Korean Peninsula. Significantly, Shin stressed the need for international solidarity to substantively denuclearize North Korea, a point on which the representatives from the other three countries were in agreement. The Japanese representative emphasized the importance of security cooperation among the ROK, the US, and Japan to deal with the North Korean nuclear issue.

Shin also proposed cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as one of the four-nation cooperation areas. Shin and representatives from each country shared the view that cooperation with the ASEAN countries by coordinating AP4’s strong points will greatly contribute to maintaining the security order in the region.

The AP4 representatives also promised to hold an AP4 minilateral meeting on the sidelines of various meetings which are held on a yearly basis, including the Asia Security Summit (Shangrila Dialogue) and the ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus). 

By Chul-Hwan, Kim < droid001@dema.mil.kr >

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