Seoul: South Korea joined the science and technology body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a partner country in a move to strengthen cooperation with the Western military alliance, the defense ministry said Saturday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, as part of the partnership with the NATO Science and Technology Organization, South Korea is expected to engage in joint research and development with other members and plan projects under the alliance's science and technology committee.
The science and technology group serves as a platform for cooperation in advanced defense technologies among its members. With its entry, South Korea becomes the organization's third partner country after Japan and Australia.
"South Korea's entry into the partnership lays the groundwork for multilateral defense science and technology cooperation with Europe for the first time and marks a milestone in development in South Korea-NATO cooperation," it said in a release.
South Korea is not a member of NATO but is one of the alliance's four partners in the Indo-Pacific region, alongside Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.