South Korea’s top military official has attended a meeting of defense chiefs of the NATO Military Committee.

According to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) on Friday, JCS vice chair Hwang You-sung attended the NATO Military Chiefs of Defense meeting held on Wednesday and Thursday in Belgium on behalf of JCS Chair Kim Myung-soo.

South Korea attended the meeting despite lacking membership to NATO upon the organization’s invitation along with Japan, Australia and New Zealand, giving a presentation on North Korean threats and regional security issues.

Hwang presented North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile capabilities as the biggest threat to the Korean Peninsula and the region, calling for a coordinated response from the international community.

The NATO Military Chiefs of Defense meeting is an annual gathering of the top brass of 29 European and two North American member states, with South Korea receiving its ninth invitation as a partner country since first attending in 2010.