Seoul, April 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) The defence chiefs of South Korea and France held talks in Seoul on Friday to discuss the regional security situation and ways to strengthen their bilateral defence and arms industry cooperation, the South Korea's defence ministry said.
The talks between Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back and his French counterpart, Catherine Vautrin, took place on the occasion of summit talks between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and French President Emmanuel Macron in Seoul.
In the defence ministerial talks, Ahn noted that the two countries mark the 140th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties, and thanked France for contributing to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, according to the ministry, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Both sides concurred that uncertainties are increasing in the international security environment amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, and a prolonged war between Russia and Ukraine, and agreed to bolster strategic communication and coordination for the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific.
Ahn stressed that North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile capabilities, and illegal military cooperation with Russia is a grave challenge not only to the Korean Peninsula but the international community, and requested France's continued interest and support for Seoul's efforts to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula and establish permanent peace.
Meanwhile, the defence chiefs assessed that their cooperation in military training and in the area of space has expanded, and agreed to advance such cooperation in other security areas.
They also concurred that France and South Korea are arms industry partners, each equipped in global competitiveness, and called for expanding their cooperation in the sector in a complementary manner, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, South Korea and France on Friday signed a preliminary agreement to promote cooperation on support for veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War, Seoul's veterans ministry said.
Veterans Minister Kwon Oh-eul and Catherine Vautrin, minister of the armed forces of France, participated in the signing ceremony for the memorandum of understanding on cooperation over veterans affairs, according to the ministry.
Under the agreement, the two agencies agreed to cooperate in collecting and sharing records of France's participation in the Korean War, secure respect for the war veterans and bereaved family members, and to set up a commemorative facility for late war veterans.
The agreement comes after the two agencies signed a letter of intent to cooperate on veterans affairs in 2023.
France deployed 3,421 army and navy forces to the Korean War, where many soldiers suffered devastating losses, with 269 soldiers killed and 1,008 others wounded.
Source: IANS
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