A senior South Korean general will join an annual conference of top military officials in the Indo-Pacific region this week for talks on bolstering security cooperation, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Monday.
Lt. Gen. Park Woong, vice chairman of the JCS, will attend the three-day Indo-Pacific Chief of Defense Conference in Fiji from Monday (local time), jointly hosted by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and the Military Forces of Fiji.
Senior military officials from 28 countries in the region, including Australia and Japan, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are expected to attend the gathering, according to the JCS.
The conference’s agenda items include efforts to uphold the “international rules-based order,” response to cyber risks, and ways to develop resilient communities to respond to natural disasters and climate change, it said.
Park will also share his assessment on the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and discuss bilateral military cooperation with other participants, including those from the United States, Britain and Fiji.
The JCS said it expects the gathering to serve as an opportunity to enhance coordination with the international community in efforts such as deterring North Korea’s nuclear and weapons of mass destruction threats.
Park will attend the event on behalf of JCS Chairman Kim Seung-kyum as Seoul’s military is making preparations to kick off a major combined exercise with the United States next week.
Source: Yonhap News Agency