Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and the top military officer at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) have discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the defense and arms industries.

According to Seoul’s defense ministry, Minister Ahn and Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chairman of the NATO Military Committee held talks Tuesday on the sidelines of the Seoul Defense Dialogue.

During their meeting, Ahn expressed serious concerns about rising tensions in the international security environment.

He noted the increasing security interconnections between Europe and the Indo-Pacific region, emphasizing the importance of cooperation between South Korea and NATO. 

Cavo Dragone shared Ahn's sentiment and voiced hopes to expand South Korea-NATO cooperation in areas including defense, military exchanges, intelligence sharing, cyber, space and artificial intelligence.

Ahn also highlighted plans to broaden defense industry collaboration with NATO beyond individual European countries, urging support fo South Korea’s arms industry. 

Both sides agreed to continue high-level exchanges to advance bilateral cooperation in a mutually beneficial and future-oriented manner.