South Korean Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh met in Seoul on September 5 and agreed to strengthen cooperation in the defense industries based on a “special strategic partnership.”
At the South Korea-India defense ministers’ meeting, which was held at the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan, Minister Jeong and Minister Singh exchanged their assessment of the regional security situations, including on the Korean Peninsula, and discussed ways to cooperate and further develop the defense industries of the two countries.
Prior to the bilateral meeting, Minister Jeong expressed his gratitude for Minister Singh’s keynote speech at Seoul Defense Dialogue 2019 (SDD), which was held at Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Thursday. The two ministers agreed to promote cooperation between the defense industries of their two countries based on the relationship between South Korea and India, which was substantialized through President Moon Jae-in’s visit to India last July and Prime Minister Modi’s visit to South Korea last February. To achieve this goal, the two ministers agreed to hold a meeting involving their vice defense and foreign ministers soon, and to upgrade consultative groups among the military forces and military exchanges.
The ministers shared the view that the two countries should strive to move toward the reciprocal development of the defense industries of the two countries.
Minister Jeong asked Minister Singh for India’s continued backing and assistance as a leader in the international community, explaining our government’s efforts for the denuclearization of North Korea and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula. “We will fully support the South Korean government’s efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula, and will continue to support the goal of complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the peninsula in cooperation with the international community,” Minister Singh replied.
After the meeting, the two ministers agreed to stimulate exchanges in military education by signing the “implementation contract for exchanges and cooperation in military education”. The ministers also concluded the “enforcement contract for logistics support in case of Navy’s mutual visit to vessels.”