SEOUL– Senior defense officials of South Korea and the Philippines held video talks Wednesday on ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation, Seoul’s defense ministry said.
During the second session of the Joint Defense Cooperation Committee (JDCC) between the two countries, Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul and his Filipino counterpart, Franco Nemesio Gacal, discussed various ways for cooperation in such fields as the arms industry, people-to-people exchange and combined exercises, according to the ministry.
The two sides assessed that bilateral exchange has been carried out actively recently, such as South Korea’s Marine Corps joining an international exercise in the Southeast Asian country for the first time earlier this month, and agreed to strengthen the session’s functions to boost ties, it said.
Gacal expressed content that South Korea’s exports of weapons systems to his country, such as the FA-50 light combat aircraft, have greatly contributed to the modernization of the Philippines’ military, according to the ministry.
Meanwhile, Shin requested support from the Philippines for Seoul’s efforts for the denuclearization of North Korea, it added.
The inaugural session of the JDCC between the two sides was held in October 2020.
Source: Yonhap News Agency