SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul hosted a luncheon meeting with diplomats from Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey and Australia on Monday to discuss security cooperation among the middle-power countries, the defense ministry said.
It marked the first defense talks of the MIKTA group, named after the initials of the five countries, since a vice-ministerial MIKTA defense dialogue took place on the margins of an annual security forum in Seoul in 2016.
The participants were Indonesian Ambassador Gandi Sulistiyanto Soeherman, Australian Ambassador Catherine Raper, as well as senior officials from the Mexican and Turkish Embassies, Adrian García and Sezai Tollga Simsir, respectively.
During the talks, Shin expressed expectations that the middle-power countries will develop their arms industry cooperation in a "mutually beneficial" manner, according to the ministry.
He also proposed that MIKTA countries work together to promote joint efforts in a range of areas, such as disaster responses, peacekeeping operations, and humanitarian and cybersecurity cooperation.
This file photo, taken Nov. 4, 2022, shows Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul speaking during a parliamentary session at the National Assembly in Seoul. (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
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