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NATO chief expresses interest in increased defense cooperation with Seoul

Published: 03 Apr. 2025, 09:53

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, left, poses with North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Mark Rutte during their meeting in Brussels on April 2. [MINISTRY OF FOREIN AFFAIRS]

The chief of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has expressed his strong interest in expanding defense cooperation with South Korea, not just on an individual country basis, but also at a "NATO-wide" level, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte made the call during his meeting with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, who is in Brussels this week to attend the foreign ministers' gathering of NATO member states.

South Korea was invited as a guest nation of NATO's Indo-Pacific partners that include Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

Rutte "expressed hope that South Korea would pursue defense cooperation, not only with individual NATO members but also with NATO as a whole," the ministry said in a release.

"Cho suggested expanding collaboration by starting with practical, achievable measures, through working-level discussions," it said.

At the meeting, Cho called for NATO's support in expediting the establishment of a South Korea-NATO intelligence-sharing channel, an initiative that has been in progress since last year.

Cho further emphasized military cooperation between Russia and North Korea "must be stopped immediately," stressing the North "should not be rewarded in any way for its wrongful actions in the course of peace negotiations," referring to Pyongyang's troop dispatch to Russia in support of the war against Ukraine.

Agreeing with Cho, Rutte highlighted the need for close coordination between NATO and its Indo-Pacific partners regarding the Russia-North Korea military ties, the ministry said.

Cho also reaffirmed South Korea's commitment to supporting Ukraine's swift reconstruction, saying South Korea plans to provide a long-term $2 billion package starting this year to assist such efforts, following last year's $400 million of aid.

Yonhap