Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

In the afternoon of January 6, Minister of National Defense Suh Wook and his British counterpart Ben Wallace discussed measures to maintain defense exchange and cooperation between the two countries during phone talks.

Expressing his congratulations on the recent successful negotiation of the future relationship between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), Suh said that our country hopes to continue to build its defense cooperation with the UK even after Brexit, as the UK is one of Korea's traditional allies as well as one of the nations that participated in the Korean War.
Wallace said that the UK is seeking multilateral measures to expand cooperation with Asian nations, including the Republic of Korea (ROK), in preparation for the post-Brexit era. Significantly, he expressed his hope for further active cooperation between the two countries in the area of defense, to promote prosperity and development in the region.
The two ministers also agreed to continue to push for talks between the defense authorities on the occasion of a multilateral meeting in the near future, the UK defense working-level delegation’s visit to ROK in the first half of the year, and exchange and cooperation between military forces, and expressed his appreciation that bilateral defense cooperation was continuing via contact-free approaches amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Suh also asked the UK for its cooperation to ensure a successful fourth UN peacekeeping ministers’ meeting, which is scheduled to be held in the ROK this year, as the UK hosted and co-chaired the first meeting.
In response, Wallace promised that the UK would provide the best support even in the process of preparation for the ministers’ meeting, as well as through the attendance of its high-level officials, to ensure a successful meeting.