South Korea-Japan Defense Ministers' Meeting in Laos "Strongly Condemns Russia-North Korea Military Cooperation"

The Ministry of National Defense said Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun held a bilateral meeting with Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani at the 11th ASEAN expanded defense ministers' meeting in Laos.

At the meeting, Minister Kim Yong-hyun and Defense Minister Nakatani strongly condemned all-round military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, including the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia, and agreed to work closely with the international community to block Russia-North Korea military cooperation.

The two sides then agreed to continue to develop security cooperation between Korea, Japan, and South Korea, the U.S., and Japan in the face of North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, and agreed to visit South Korea by the end of this year for the first time in nine years since 2015.

At the same time, Minister Kim held bilateral talks with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and praised the recent expansion of cooperation in cyber and U.N. peacekeeping activities between the two countries, and decided to continue discussions on expanding K-9 self-propelled artillery cooperation, a symbol of defense cooperation between the two countries.