Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

ADMM-Plus triggers ROK-Australia Defense Ministers meeting

—Discussion on strengthening national defense and defense industrial cooperation among value sharing nations in the Indo-Pacific region—

On the morning of November 22 (Tuesday, local time), Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup held a ministerial meeting with Richard Marles, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of National Defense of Australia, at the 9th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where they discussed major defense issues between the two countries, including the security situation in the region.

Having noted that the leaders of South Korea and Australia agreed on the need to expand bilateral cooperation during the NATO summit in June, they decided to further strengthen cooperation in the national defense and military sectors based on mutual trust between the defense ministers of the two countries, which was formed by holding three ministerial talks this year.

In particular, both noted that the two countries are drafting a defense strategy plan to deal with the recent changes in the security environment, and agreed to pursue future-oriented collaboration through close cooperation between the two countries in the process of writing Korea's Defense Innovation 4.0 and Australia's Defense Strategic Review.