SEOUL, South Korea’s special representative for the Indo-Pacific held talks Wednesday with an Australian deputy secretary to discuss security and cooperation in the region, the foreign ministry said.

Chung Kee-yong and Elly Lawson, deputy secretary of the Strategic Planning and Coordination Group at the Australian department of foreign affairs, agreed to cooperate closely in implementing their Indo-Pacific strategies as partners sharing the same core values.

The two sides also shared the need for “strategic communication” and “institutionalization of cooperation,” according to the ministry.

Last August, Australia launched the Geostrategy and Partnerships Division to oversee partnerships with the U.S., U.K., Canada, South Korea and Japan, and to shape the work of the Quad, a grouping of the U.S., Japan, India and Australia.

Source: Yonhap News Agency