NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Alliance and South Korea will discuss ways to build a cooperation mechanism on assistance for Ukraine at a summit in Washington, as per Yonhap news agency.
On 20 June, South Korea strongly condemned a strategic partnership agreement signed by the leaders of Russia and North Korea, stating that it violates UN sanctions. In response, Seoul’s presidential office said it would review the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine.
The deal between the two dictatorships could potentially lead to a conflict between Seoul and Pyongyang, which could decrease Ukraine’s support, as it happened after Hamas attacked Israel in 2023.
At a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Stoltenberg announced that the Alliance deepened and strengthened its partnership with South Korea amid threats from Russia, North Korea, Iran, and China.
“Iran and North Korea are fuelling Russia’s war with drones and shells. China is propping up Russia’s war economy and providing microelectronics and other dual-use goods for Russia’s war. The closer that authoritarian actors align, the more important it is that we work closely with our friends in the Indo-Pacific,” stated Stoltenberg.
He said NATO is planning to build cooperation for “flagship projects” on Ukraine, cyber and new technologies and discuss defense industry cooperation with South Korea.
“The flagship project is partly about the medical education of Ukrainian soldiers.
We are also investigating how to expand the exchange of intelligence information with South Korea,” Stoltenberg said.
Earlier, the President of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, said Seoul would increase military information sharing with NATO through the Battlefield Information Collection and Exploitation System, which helps members share military secrets.
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