National Counter Terrorism Center, EU representatives hold joint security seminar

Defense

National Counter Terrorism Center, EU representatives hold joint security seminar

Published: 05 Sep. 2024, 18:16

LEE SOO-JUNG
lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr

Officials from Korea’s National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), European agencies and European Union (EU) representatives pose for a photograph during a joint seminar held in Seoul, which started Tuesday. [DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA]

Korea’s National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) and related representatives from the European Union (EU) concluded a joint knowledge-sharing seminar to strengthen mutual security cooperation, the EU Delegation to the Republic of Korea said Thursday.

The envoys and Korean officials discussed measures to enhance preparedness against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons and the optimal usage of unmanned aerial systems.

Security experts working for the EU project Enhancing Security Cooperation In and With Asia (ESIWA) and officials from counter terrorism agencies from Croatia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain attended the seminar.

The Korean counterparts included officials from the Defense Ministry, National Intelligence Service, National Police Agency, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and other relevant authorities. The seminar was first of its kind.

Fredrik Ekfeldt, an interim chargé d’affaires at the delegation of the European Union to Korea, said, “This seminar marks a significant step forward in our collective efforts to address evolving joint security challenges.”

Shin Sang-kyun, an administrator at the NCTC, said that the seminar marks a “step on a long road to a more comprehensive and global security response" to increasingly complex threats.

Shin noted the center’s drive to "regularize" various types of cooperation and exchanges to strengthen cooperation between Korea and the EU.