Page 203 - 2018 Defense White Paper

Peninsula. The MND has also held multiple separate bilateral and trilateral meetings with key

partner nations on the occasion of multilateral security forums. In those separate meetings, the
ROK MND and its partners exchanged views on security situations and discussed major issues,
thereby strengthening defense cooperation.

Furthermore, since 2017, the MND has hosted the “ROK–ASEAN Vice Defense -Ministerial
Meeting” during the SDD, contributing to the implementation of the ROK government’s New
Southern Policy. The multilateral security forums in the Asia-Pacif ic region that the MND

attends are listed in [Chart 5-4].

[ Chart 5-4 ] Multilateral Security Consultative Forums That the MND Attends
Track 1 25) Multilateral Security Meeting Track 1.5 26) Multilateral Security Meeting

Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD)
ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) Asia Security Summit (ASS)

ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Halifax International Security Forum (HISF)
Tokyo Defense Forum (TDF) Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD)

Fullerton Forum

| Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) | The MND has been hosting the SDD—a multilateral
security dialogue joined by vice minister–level defense off icials and civilian security experts from Chapter 5
all over the world—annually since 2012 to contribute to multilateral security cooperation in the
Asia-Pacific region and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula. The SDD enhanced

communication and cooperation regarding common military interests, thereby, improving the
regional security environment and expanding the horizon of defense diplomacy. In recent years,
delegations from all over the world—not only Asia-Pacif ic countries but also key nations in

the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa—attended the SDD to exchange views
on security issues. The status of the SDD as a major senior off icial-level multilateral security
consultative body in the region is growing stronger.

25) Multilateral security conferences held between governments to promote regional and world
peace and stability, and to discuss participating countries’ common security interests
26) Multilateral security conferences engaging participating nations’ governments, civilian
groups, and academics to promote regional and world peace and stability, and to discuss
2018 Seoul Defense
participating countries’ common security interests Dialogue (SDD)

Section 3 Expansion of Defense Exchanges and Cooperation 201