Viet Nam, South Korea hold 11th defense policy dialogue

Deputy Minister of Defense Hoang Xuan Chien and his Korean counterpart Kim Seon Ho co-chaired the event during which both sides reviewed the results of bilateral cooperation in this field, discussed matters of shared concerns, and agreed on orientations for joint work in the time to come.

Following the upgrade of the Viet Nam-South Korea relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2022, the countries' defense cooperation has reaped practical outcomes regarding delegation exchanges, education-training, dialogue and consultation mechanisms, defense industry, military trade, war aftermath alleviation, cybersecurity, military medicine, and UN peacekeeping.

The Vietnamese defense ministry is willing to host senior officers from South Korea attending training courses at the National Defense Academy and Vietnamese language courses at the Military Science Academy in Viet Nam, he stressed.

He took the occasion to thank the Korean Government for granting a total of US$34 million for two projects on tackling wartime bombs in Viet Nam.

Regarding the East Sea issue, Hoang emphasized that Viet Nam remains steadfast in resolving all disputes through peaceful means, based on international law and commitments in the region, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the ASEAN six-point principles on the East Sea, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the waters (DOC), and the promotion of substantive and effective negotiations on a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

Regarding the situation on the Korean Peninsula, he said Viet Nam maintains its stance against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and supports the denuclearization of the area and the resolution of issues through peaceful dialogue.

For his part, Kim stated South Korea wants to expand its defense collaboration with Viet Nam and proposed the sides maintain current joint activities and explore new cooperation areas based on their friendship.

At the dialogue, the officials exchanged views on the global and regional situations of mutual concerns. They also signed the dialogue's minutes./.