Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Defense Minister Shin Won Sik, who became the first Korean defense minister to visit Romania, held a defense ministerial meeting with Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr at the Romanian Ministry of National Defense on the morning of June 19 (local time) .

Minister Shin Won Sik noted that while cooperation has expanded in many areas since the bilateral relationship was upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2008, many achievements have been made recently in the field of defense the and defense industry.

Both ministers agreed to identify and implement substantial cooperation in various fields, such as military training, sports and culture, information and experience exchange, the defense industry, and science and technology, on the basis of the Korea-Romania Defense Cooperation Agreement signed at the April summit.

In particular, Minister Tîlvăr announced at today’s meeting that Romania has finally decided to purchase Korean K9 self-propelled howitzers, and Minister Shin expressed his appreciation.

The decision, worth USD 920 million, is Romania's largest arms purchase in the past seven years and was spurred on by a bilateral summit in April.

Romania’s decision to purchase the K9 will provide momentum for the additional expansion of the K-defense industry in Europe, following Poland.

Minister Shin Won Sik outlined the direction of bilateral cooperation, saying, “Korea is committed to being the best partner in Romania's ongoing military modernization project, and Korea expects that the deal will not end with a simple sale of weapons, but will lead to the further promotion of defense and defense industry cooperation through joint production, cross-training between operational units, and personnel exchanges.”

Minister Shin also said: “True peace can only be secured if it is backed up by strong power, and I hope that both countries will play the role of a bulwark of peace and freedom in Asia and Europe.”

Regarding Russian President Putin’s visit to North Korea, Minister Shin and Minister Tîlvăr shared the understanding that the Russia-North Korea security cooperation poses a threat to security in Europe and Asia, and therefore requires close cooperation and response from the international community.